It is Spring migration season, and this time of year presents an opportunity to connect with the rhythms of nature through the flight paths of birds. Their migration syncs with daylight, temperature, stars, thermal patterns in the atmosphere, bodies of water, and the magnetic fields of the earth. When I see flocks of birds migrating, my awareness of the universe expands and this awareness brings me a sense of peace knowing that in nature everything has a time, place, and purpose.
Birds use the stars to navigate during migration, and on cloudy nights they get confused by the lights of skyscrapers or other bright city lights. Turning out the lights during migration can reduce bird deaths by 80 percent. Tens of millions of birds migrate through the Philadelphia area twice a year and the city has adopted Lights Out Philly, a city initiative asking property managers and tenants to turn off the lights between midnight and 6 a.m. from April 1 to May 31. To learn more visit Bird Safe Philly. Chicago was the first city to adopt a Lights Out program in 1999. Since then 33 other cities have created their own Lights Out program. The Colorado State University Aeroeco Lab site posts light level alerts in other cities of the United States.
To help birds during migration season, point any outside lights downward. Birds are attracted to red and white light, but these long-wavelength light sources interfere with the internal magnetic compass of nocturnal migrating birds, especially on overcast nights. Choosing light from the blue-green part of the spectrum, with little or no long-wavelength radiation, helps birds with magnetic compass orientation for migratory flight.
If you don’t live near a migration route you can view the Sandhill Crane migration along the Platte River in Nebraska with the National Audubon Society’s Rowe Sanctuary Crane Camera. Their flight patterns as they land at dawn and dusk are mesmerizing.