Millions of migrating birds are traveling mostly north through Oregon over the next few weeks, and they could use a little help to make their way safely to their breeding grounds.
As these birds fly over cities at night, light pollution can blot out the stars and disrupt their natural navigation system. They can wind up trapped in the city and either run into buildings or collapse from exhaustion after circling repeatedly.
The Bird Alliance of Oregon’s Lights Out program encourages Oregonians to turn off outdoor lights and close their curtains or blinds to aid birds during their spring and fall migration periods.
The peak migration periods this year are from April 15 to May 19, and from Sept. 19 to Oct. 19.
Wednesday night is a Lights Out “red alert” night, with 3.6 million birds expected to be flying through the Oregon skies, according to Colorado State University’s AeroEco Lab. Millions more birds are expected the next two nights, with a projected 3.8 million on Thursday and 2 million on Friday.
Nearly 3.9 million birds are estimated to have been flying through Oregon on Tuesday night, with about 875,000 fulling crossing the state, according to BirdCast.
Many species of birds are migrating, with some traveling hundreds or thousands of miles and others traveling a shorter distance within the state but seeking higher elevation.
Predicting the big movement nights for birds is not an exact science, said Mary Coolidge, who runs the Lights Out program at Bird Alliance of Oregon. Coolidge likened it to weather forecasting.
“They’re looking at the doppler radar information that they’re getting, they’re looking at weather conditions, they’re looking at wind speed, temperature, precipitation, wind direction, all of that and trying to predict whether there are going to be big movement nights,” Coolidge said. “And sometimes they miss it. I would say rarely do we get a red alert and then it’s a disappointing night. Usually we do see big nights on nights when they predict it.”
A 2019 study by Cornell University researchers found a nearly 30% decline in the North American bird population since 1970. Limiting light pollution is one way humans can help their feathered friends.
“Our birds really are in trouble,” Coolidge said. “This is a fairly easy way that we can reduce one of the hazards for them while they’re migrating, which is already an incredibly perilous and metabolically taxing time of their lives. So, just trying to make that already difficult journey a little bit easier for them.”
Coolidge said people also can help migrating birds by keeping cats inside, treating windows to prevent birds from running into unmarked glass, planting native plants and talking to friends and neighbors about light pollution.
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