Lights Out Alert for Monday, May 15
May 15, 2023 — It looks like Connecticut is in for one more night of really big songbird migration — which is great for Tuesday morning birders but not so great for the birds, if they crash into lighted buildings.
So please, Lights Out again tonight.
The estimate is for half a million birds. Ken Elkins, the director of our Milford Point Coastal Center and our Lights Out expert, notes that this is a similar forecast to Friday night when an estimated 3 million birds crossed over Connecticut rather than the half million that had been forecasted!
As we look at the forecast for the rest of this week, tonight will very likely be the largest night of migration this week.
As migrating birds pass over brightly lit cities, sky glow drowns out the stars, confusing them and luring them into urban areas. Once trapped in the windowed maze of the city, birds either hit buildings directly or circle them until they collapse from exhaustion. If you find a dead bird, report it to dBird.org.
Lights Out Connecticut is an effort to help prevent birds from being distracted by artificial light in our state: www.lightsoutct.org.
You can learn more about Connecticut Audubon’s role in the Lights Out Coalition here.
