Making Migration Safer for Birds

Right now, millions of birds are heading to their breeding grounds. Migration is energy-intensive and risky, but the payoff is to end up in a place where it’s easy to find a mate and where resources for raising the young are abundant. Let’s do our part to help birds on their way.

We can look to the skies to see some birds migrating in the daytime, but most birds will migrate under the cover of night. It’s cooler (all that wing-flapping generates a lot of heat) and there are fewer predators at night. On the downside, artificial lights interfere with their ability to navigate using the stars. Disorientation caused by the lights often draws the birds down into urban landscapes where they are vulnerable to many hazards.

We can help: by remembering to check the lights at our homes, businesses, and in our neighborhoods, to be sure they are pointed down, shielded above, and only lit when necessary for security. Consider motion sensor detectors which turn lights on only when needed.

As birds are drawn into cities, increased rates of collisions with man-made structures occur. Birds don’t recognize glass as a solid object and far too often, will fatally fly into it.

We can help: by covering windows and glass doors plus closing curtains, shades, or blinds. Effective solutions include “Acopian bird savers,” feather-friendly strips, bird tape, netting, and closely spaced decals or designs. FMI: stopbirdcollisions.org/

Although there are a few notable exceptions, most birds don’t fly non-stop. They need safe, resource-filled stopover sites along their migratory route.

We can help: by supporting initiatives that provide this habitat; for instance, protecting forests, wilderness areas, and parks. At home, we can use native plants in our gardens to provide food and shelter for birds and we can keep our gardens messy. Birds use leaf litter, dead snags, and branches. They eat seeds from old flower stalks and seek cover in old plants. We need to avoid the use of pesticides, including herbicides, rodenticides, or insecticides, all of which directly or indirectly impact birds.

We can help: by learning how to make our yard spaces into habitat for birds through our Habitat Haven Yard Certification program; and by keeping cats safe at home, thereby making our neighborhood stop-over sites safe for birds. Supervised cats are healthier and face fewer dangers as well. FMI: humanesociety.org/resources/home-sweet-home-how-bring-outside-cat-indoors

We are lucky to live along the Pacific Flyway. Enjoy the changes (and birds) that arrive with spring.

Bird Facts: Migration

• Some birds almost double their body weight before migration.
• Birds navigate using the sun, stars, and Earth’s magnetic field. Some migratory birds return to the exact location where they were born.
• 125 million (+/-) birds are expected to fly over Oregon as they migrate.