GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – Bird migration season is underway in Wisconsin, and there’s a simple step you can take to help keep migrating birds safe during their travels.
Forecast maps from BirdCast.org show high migration intensity over the Midwest. The organization takes data from Purdue University to figure out when Wisconsin could see the most migration.
Lights Out Wisconsin is an organization targeting Wisconsin for protecting migrating birds. The solution is turning off unnecessary lights outside.
“Tens of millions of birds flying over on some night, and what happens is artificial light kind of disorients the birds and draws them off of their migration route,” said Lisa Gaumnitz of Lights Out Wisconsin. “So then the birds come down to the lights, and it tends to be urban areas where there’s lots of hazards.”
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The idea is to keep birds on track by turning out those lights. Lights Out Wisconsin is issuing alerts to encourage more Wisconsinites to turn off unnecessary lights.
Gaumnitz highlighted the importance of birds to Wisconsin.
“They are important for pest control, both important in our forestry industry as well our agriculture,” Gaumnitz said. “They eat billions worth of insects that otherwise would hurt those industries. We have a $2.6 billion wildlife watching industry here in Wisconsin, and bird watching is the heart of that. So that supports a lot of jobs and brings a lot of people in.”
Over the next couple of nights, large amounts of birds will be migrating through the area. Turning off lights can help ensure they make it to their destination safely.
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