Portugal turns off lights to save seabird fledglings this October
Residents of Corvo island in the Portuguese Azores turned off public lights last week to protect young seabirds during their critical migration period.
More than four hundred locals joined the effort to keep the sky dark. They turned off lights from nine pm until four am for five nights in October. This blackout prevents disoriented birds from crashing into buildings or dying on the ground while they leave their nests.
The Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds partners with the local municipality to organize these weekly blackouts starting in 2019. Dozens of volunteers assist lost birds by placing them in cardboard boxes to help them return to the ocean.
Cory's Shearwater populations rely heavily on this archipelago as it hosts between sixty five and 75% of the global breeding population. Light pollution from towns often blinds these vulnerable creatures and causes them to land far from their intended destinations.
Since 2015 more than thirty thousand fledglings have been rescued in the Azores thanks to this dedicated community campaign. Similar blackouts on Madeira island aim to educate businesses and residents about reducing unnecessary outdoor lighting for juvenile seabirds.