(by Slater Roosa)

Migrating thousands of miles every year comes with many challenges and dangers to our North American birds. A large majority of birds migrate during the night and can travel hundreds of miles in a single evening. Unfortunately, one of the biggest difficulties migrating birds face is light pollution! Light pollution attracts and disorients migrating birds, confusing and exhausting them as well as making them vulnerable to collisions with buildings. It can also attract them to areas with other dangers present such as outdoor cats or toxins. An estimated 300-900 million birds every year do not survive their migration because of building strikes.

Join NH Audubon in a lights-out migration season! By keeping the lights around your home and place of work off between 11pm-6am during the most critical migration period (March 1st to June 15th). Below are a few ideas to help you support our migratory birds!

• Turn off or dim lobby and atrium lights.
• Turn off or dim interior home lighting, or draw blinds to prevent light escaping.
• Turn off decorative landscape lighting.
• Turn off lights before leaving the home or office.
• Be sure outside lights are aimed down and well shielded.
• Install motion sensors on outside lights to minimize use.

Cover photo by Charlie Riedel.