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Officials Urge Lights Out Saturday to Protect Migrating Birds

By Drooid · Sep 12, 2026, 4:32 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

U.S. officials ask residents to dim or turn off lights to protect migrating birds on Saturday.
More than 300 million birds are expected to cross the United States during the migration.
Adriaan Dokter of Cornell University’s BirdCast says at least one billion birds die annually in collisions.
Blackpoll warblers, chimney swifts and scissor-tailed flycatchers are among the species migrating.
The migration concentrates heavily in eastern Minnesota and Michigan after darkness on Saturday.

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Story summary

U.S. officials ask residents to dim or turn off lights to protect migrating birds on Saturday.
More than 300 million birds are expected to cross the United States during the migration.
Adriaan Dokter of Cornell University’s BirdCast says at least one billion birds die annually in collisions.
Blackpoll warblers, chimney swifts and scissor-tailed flycatchers are among the species migrating.
The migration concentrates heavily in eastern Minnesota and Michigan after darkness on Saturday.