3.8 million birds will be passing through Connecticut. Help them make it safely by turning your lights out. Then enjoy them while they’re here!

Blackpoll Warblers are among the species expected to migrate through Connecticut this week.

October 16, 2024—The weather pattern that has brought cool, clear, breezy days and nights to Connecticut is also bringing birds—an estimated 3.8 million between now and Saturday morning..

That’s great news for the birding community. It also means the birds that migrate at night—the vast majority of fall migrants—are at risk of being attracted by lights and crashing into buildings and other structures.

More than 1 billion birds a year die in North America when they crash into buildings. You can play a small but important role in protecting them by turning out your lights at night.

The Colorado State University Aeroeco Lab predicts that 3.8 million birds will migrate across the state over the next three nights: 1.2 million tonight, 1.3 million tomorrow night, and 1.3 million Friday night.

These maps from the Colorado State University Aeroeco Lab show the predicted number of birds migrating over Connecticut before Saturday.

Connecticut Audubon is part of the Lights Out Connecticut coalition, which is working statewide to reduce bird crashes. In the decades since 1970, the bird population of North America has fallen by about 3 billion birds, or 30 percent. Reducing the number of birds that die in building crashes is one of the key ways to bring birds back.

If you’d like to receive a text in the future about when to turn out your lights, sign up for Connecticut Audubon’s Lights Out alerts here.

While you are protecting birds, make sure you take time to enjoy them. When dawn comes each day, many of the migrating birds will be landing in Connecticut.

Among the species to look for, according to Birdcast, are Black-throated Green, Blackpoll and Magnolia Warblers.

And keep an eye out for hawks. Spot checks today at Connecticut Audubon’s Larsen Sanctuary in Fairfield turned up Turkey Vultures, Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks with the occasional falcon or two. Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks will start to move more later this month. Further south, the Cape May, N.J., hawk watch counted 900 Sharp-shinned and 500 Cooper’s by mid afternoon.