Ridge Runner Chronicles: Some Thoughts About That Annual Bird Migration
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By Bill Hoagland
Not sure if this is because I am getting older, but recently in the evenings, I have enjoyed watching the barn swallows swoop in and out of the alleyway as we feed the horses and put them up for the night. The barn swallow is a magnificent creature and its ability to dive and dart at over 40 miles per hour is a joy to watch, similar to watching hummingbirds swarming around the feeders. But on the evening of August 9, I noticed that Annie’s barn was strangely silent and sure enough, a check of the rafters confirmed that all the swallows were gone. Shortly after dusk the previous evening, the entire flock apparently left the barn on their annual migration to South America. And once again, I was left wondering how these birds came to the unanimous decision that they leave in unison after dark on August 8? Did they meet and talk about it first?
This is one of the reasons that the annual bird migration is so mysterious and fascinating to me. Almost two billion birds will migrate this fall across North America and most of this migration, believe it or not, will occur at night. Just last night (August 24), for example, here in the Illinois counties of Calhoun and Jersey, from 7:00 p.m. last night until sunrise this morning, there were approximately 1,500,500 migrating birds passing through these two counties according to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, who tracks this migration by radar on a daily basis. (Migrating birds tend to fly in mass or clouds and that is why they can be tracked on radar.) And we are not in to the heaviest part of the migration yet. It is at least a month away.
Think about all the risks these migrating birds encounter in the dark during that annual migration south, whether they are headed to Central America or all the way to South America. Most of us take it for granted—that these birds will safely arrive at their winter destination, spend the winter there and return to us next spring as if there is nothing to it, yet these birds encounter hurricanes, wind turbines, lighted skyscrapers, airplanes and many other risks in that annual journey and many sadly do not survive the trip.
According to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, light pollution in North America has become perhaps the biggest problem for these migrating birds. That’s because in the dark, birds are naturally attracted to artificial lights just like moths are and this could be fatal for migrating birds. For example, on the night of October 4, 2023, song birds migrating through downtown Chicago became confused by the skyscrapers lights and they crashed into the windows of those skyscrapers and thousands of these birds died. (For further details on this unfortunate and avoidable situation, check out the story and photos at “www.dashboard.birdcast.info.” ) Waterfowl tend to migrate at a high elevation and they miss the tall buildings; songbirds don’t.
The Cornell website lists when the heaviest migration will occur in most areas of the country; we are encouraged by Cornell to turn off all unnecessary lights after dark during the heaviest migration to avoid what happened in Chicago. This effort is referred to as the “Birds Lights Out Program”, and while many people couldn’t care less about birds, some corporations and homeowners have been surprisingly responsive. In Texas, for example, corporations as well as homeowners have willingly participated in the program, with many of the companies in those skyscrapers in Dallas turning off their lights at night during the heaviest period of migration to help save the birds.
By the way, I am curious; do we really need all those skyscrapers lit up at night if nobody is in there working?
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ν Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].
