A federal wildlife refuge in Newburyport saw what officials dubbed a \u201cbirdnado\u201d on Monday, as thousands of tree swallows took flight to migrate south for the winter, officials for the U.S. Department of the Interior said in a post. <\/p>\n
Video shared by federal conservation authorities shows the birds, known for their blue and green feathers<\/a>, filling the skies over the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, where officials said they likely were taking a rest stop during their southward journey, which typically ends in Central and South America<\/a>. <\/p>\n Video shows \u2018birdnado\u2019 as thousands of swallows migrate south over Newburyport<\/p>\n Thousands of tree swallows form a “birdnado” in Newburyport as they headed south for winter.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen enough swallows show up at once, migration starts looking a lot like Twister … the original… not the remake,\u201d officials wrote in their post. <\/p>\n Commentators were quick to point out that the scenes evoked another famous movie, Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s 1963 horror film \u201cThe Birds,\u201d in which a coastal California town comes under attack by scores of vicious avians. <\/p>\n \u201cThat looks amazingly scary,\u201d one person wrote on social media. <\/p>\n \u201cBirds in flight are amazing,\u201d another marveled. <\/p>\n The 4,700-acre reserve has become a hub for migratory species in the Northeast, hosting more than 300 species of birds throughout the year, according to the reserve\u2019s website. <\/a><\/p>\n The migratory period for tree swallows peaks in August and September, according to the Massachusetts Audubon Society<\/a>. Earlier in the summer, tree swallows, among the most common nesting birds and the largest swallow species in the state, gather en masse along the Massachusetts coast, they said.<\/p>\n Hundreds can regularly be spotted dotting shorelines and telephone wires on the North Shore before their migration, according to Audubon officials. <\/p>\n During peak migratory periods, such as the next few weeks, the US Fish and Wildlife Service<\/a> asks that residents turn off all non-essential home lights, especially exterior lighting, from dusk to dawn, to reduce possible distractions for birds that could lead to fatal accidents. <\/p>\n According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology<\/a>, this fall\u2019s migratory period will last until Nov. 30. Their BirdCast <\/a>alert system can be used to see when birds may be flying over an area near you. <\/p>\n Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism<\/a>.<\/p>\n