Help Birds This Migration Season by Lowering Light Pollution

Posted on October 11, 2022 | Updated on September 30, 2025

Peyton Garcia

Birds make their migration movements when the sun goes down. (Tyler D. Rickenbach / Getty Images)

Saturday marked World Migratory Bird Day, and ornithologists everywhere want to remind us all that we have an important part to play in seasonal bird migration: reducing light pollution.

Birds migrate at night to take advantage of cooler temps, calmer winds, and fewer predatory threats. But light pollution from street lamps, tall buildings, and even porch lights can make their journey more difficult, if not outright dangerous. The National Audubon Society spearheads the Lights Out program, a countrywide initiative to encourage home and building owners to turn off or reduce unnecessary lighting during bird migration seasons.

In the name of advocacy and education, ornithologists at Colorado State University want to encourage you to check out BirdCast (no relation to City Cast 😉), a website that uses Doppler radar technology to track bird migration the same way meteorologists track rain and snow. Want to know how many birds and what kinds are flying over your house at night? Check out BirdCast’s Migration Dashboard to peruse all kinds of nightly bird migration data in your local county.

🔎 Learn more about BirdCast and World Migratory Bird Day in this Denver Post article.