News

Large numbers of birds died in collisions with glass and structures while major migration was occurring in the Chicago area on the night of 4-5 October 2023. Turn off your lights, make your windows bird friendly!

Our colleagues and friends in the Chicago, Illinois area have sad news about a major bird collision event that occurred last night and this morning, 4-5 October 2023. Reports from the area indicate that large numbers of birds died in collisions while major migration was occurring in the area (see the following checklist, as well as this one). Although details are still emerging, this event appears to be a combination of high intensity migration, adverse weather conditions for flying, and light and glass – a mix we know too well can be deadly.

BirdCast predicted a large movement of birds in the greater New York City area on 11-12 September: first, nearly a week has passed of summer-like conditions in the greater New York City metropolitan area, preventing most exodus of migrants that is typical under more favorable conditions; second, a moderate to heavy flight of birds occurred in the periphery of upstate New York and parts of New England last night, indicating a number of birds in the immediate vicinities of the New York City metropolitan area (the image above shows some of these movements, and you can visit our analysis to read more about these flights); and finally, and most important, conditions were favorable for migration this evening, with northerly winds, clear skies, and substantially cooler temperatures than the past week.

Hurricane/Post-tropical Cyclone Sandy and all of her fury are firmly ensconced in the record books, and this storm will remain forever in the lexicon of Northeastern US weather lore (probably foremost ahead of the 1938 Long Island Express). This is…

The spring window for peak bird migration in Texas has arrived, so it’s time to get outside and experience the coming spectacle! Just doing one simple thing will help protect these migrating birds: turn off all non-essential lights between 11pm and 6am every night to go Lights Out and reduce collision risk!

In recent days we’ve hit the highest highs and lowest lows of this migration season. Here, we speak briefly about the last week’s events and highlight the upcoming movements and action alerts for the next three days.

The past week saw another movement above the half a billion mark, with continued high intensity flights predicted for 16-17 October. Let’s get those lights out, especially in the areas with red alerts.

The BirdCast team has a growing number of friends and family members, and for today’s post, we introduce Diya Balagopal, a high school sophomore from Frisco, Texas. During the month of October, we will highlight Lights Out alert forecasts to support bird conservation by reducing nighttime lighting during migration season. The small act of turning off lights can make a big difference for protecting nocturnally migrating birds!

Laura is or will soon intensify to a Major Hurricane with unsurvivable storm surge and extremely dangerous conditions. Current forecasts predict landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border. Avian impacts from Laura’s landfall north to Arkansas and east through western Tennessee are likely on Thursday and Friday.

As hinted in last week’s post, there was some potential for scattered light migration across portions of the South-Central and Southeastern US. On 19 February 2013, as a substantial frontal boundary approached the Mississippi River valley, conditions for nocturnal bird…

WHAT: “Forecasting Seasonal Bird Migration” – with Andrew Farnsworth of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Farnsworth is based in New York City. WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 from Noon to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Cornell’s ILR Conference Center, 16 East 34th…

Hurricane Isaias is forecast to make landfall in the US on the Carolina coast after grazing the Florida Peninsula and passing directly over the Bahamas and nearby islands. This storm will likely produce hazardous conditions where it passes, including damaging winds, dangerous storm surges, and torrential rains with flooding, and it will bring seabirds and other entrained and displaced species ashore far afield from their typical locations. Check out our live sightings map at the end of the post; and follow updates as we make them.