Spring Bird Migration Data Visualization

Visualization from Cornell University of birds migration from the months of March-June

As spring warms into summer, many bird species are entering the final stretch of their spring migration. Starting in February, species like the yellow throated warbler and gnatcatchers take short trips over Georgia to reach southeastern and coastal lines. That pace dramatically accelerates in March as birds undertake the Atlantic Flyway, a migration corridor spanning from South America, through the East Coast and finally into the Artic. Every night, millions of birds pass over Georgia to get to their breeding grounds. Finally, it peaks in late April, then slows down rapidly in the ten days after April 20th-26th. Our rich ecological diversity- and for interior migrants, our location as one of the southern-most states on the East Coast- makes Georgia a hub for travelers to pass through.

Courtesy of Birds Georgia, (“​Fall v. Spring Migration Stopover Density in Georgia”)

Birds are highly sensitive to their environment. They respond to changes in weather, day length, food availability, and light cycles. They can even sense Earth’s magnetic fields! All of these natural cues dictate their sense of direction and timing while migrating. Because of this, the biggest danger to migrating birds is large spans of urbanization that have morphed the natural landscape.

Birds migrate at night, (typically between the hours of 11pm-6am), and the lights and sounds of a city can often disorient them. These modern environmental factors create artificial signals for their flight patterns. There are two main dangers from this; it confuses their sense of direction, wasting limited time and stamina, and it introduces more opportunities for them to fatally collide with windows.

The #LightsOutSpring initiative prevents a significant portion of these deaths every year. For all our participants, thank you! You’re saving lives and reducing your electric bill. If you didn’t this year, it’s never too late to start. After sundown, simply turn off your outdoor lights (or switch to amber/orange bulbs, these are beneficial year round!) and cover windows where light could escape from indoors. It’s an easy but incredibly impactful change. Together we can protect millions of migratory birds on their annual cross-hemisphere journey.