Help Save Connecticut’s Migratory Birds

By joining Lights Out Connecticut, you can help to reduce the impacts of light pollution on migratory songbirds! You can also save energy and money, reduce your carbon footprint, safeguard your own health, and help preserve views of the night sky.

By Taking the Pledge to go lights out, you become a part of a growing community of CT residents, businesses, schools, churches, and nonprofits who pledge to turn off their unnecessary outdoor and indoor lights from each night from 11pm to 6am during peak bird migration (Spring: April 1 - May 31; and Fall: Aug 15 - Nov 15) to reduce the diverse risks of light pollution for migratory birds.

Is your town or city ready for better lighting rules? Check out our Model CT Municipal Lighting Ordinance (draft) - www.lightsoutct.org/s/Model_DarkSky_Municipal_Regulations_LightsOutCT_Feb2024.pdf

Why Lights Out?

Millions of birds pass through Connecticut every spring and fall on their way to and from their summer nesting grounds up north. Because our state is located along the Atlantic Flyway, many birds use our shorelines and green spaces to rest and refuel during their trip. Some also stay for the summer.

Most migrating birds pass through Connecticut at nighttime. Many species of migratory songbirds evolved to migrate at nighttime, when the skies are safer. The air temperatures are cooler, the air flows are less turbulent, and avian predators are less active. Landing at daybreak also allows for optimal foraging, as insects become active. Further, sciences shows that the birds navigate by cues in the night sky, including the light of the moon and stars.

Over the last 100 years, light pollution has wreaked havoc on our night sky. Artificial light emitted from buildings, street lights, bridges, and other structures can confuse and disorient migratory birds, causing them to circle around for hours until they drop from exhaustion or land in unsafe areas, close to structures where they are at higher risk of building collisions and predation. This can be made worse by weather patterns that force them to fly lower, closer to buildings.

Studies have shown that overly lit structures and landscapes can tempt migrating birds into fatal headlong building collisions, tragically cutting their journeys short. The result is catastrophic: 1 to 2 billion birds are killed by building collisions each year in the United States.

The Solution

Lights Out Connecticut is a growing community of residents, property owners, businesses, nonprofits, and officials in Connecticut working together to protect migratory birds by reducing artificial light during peak periods of bird migration. We educate and organize people to turn off or dim their nonessential lights during the weeks of April 1–May 31 and August 15–November 15.

Participation is completely voluntary, self-monitored, and self-assessed. For instance, if a resident, business owner, or school determines that they can safely turn off or dim their exterior lights and install motion detection lights as necessary to reduce their lighting load for Lights out Connecticut, they can join us in good faith.

It all adds up to make a big difference for migrating birds looking for safe passage through Connecticut.

Turning out lights also SAVES energy and money on electric bills. The Environmental Protection Agency identifies energy as the single largest operating expense for commercial buildings; yet the U.S. Department of Energy found that 99% of the light we emit has no clear purpose.

Our goal is to reduce unnecessary, misdirected, over-illuminated nighttime lighting during bird migration to create safe passage for birds — not to completely darken cities and towns, which could create safety concerns.

Studies show that migratory movements intensify shortly after sunset.

People benefit when we turn off extra lights TOO!

  • Better health

  • Save money

  • Reduce energy use

  • Be more eco-friendly

  • Follow sustainability guidelines

  • Enjoy the STARS!

Meet Our Strategic Partners

Lights Out Connecticut collaborates with strategic partners across Connecticut. Together, we advocate on behalf of migratory birds and raise public awareness about the importance of turning out lights during migration to help birds travel through our state safely. 

Ash Creek Conservation Association

Aspetuck Land Trust

Audubon Connecticut

Connecticut Audubon Society

Connecticut Ornithological Association

Dark Sky Association

Hartford Audubon Society

Litchfield Hills Audubon Society

New Haven Bird Club

North Haven Rotary Club

Pollinator Pathway

Pequot Library (Fairfield, CT)

Best Video Film & Cultural Center (Hamden, CT)

Sierra Club Connecticut Chapter

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

To learn about becoming a Lights Out Connecticut Partner, click here.

White-Throated Sparrow killed after colliding with glass at Yale School of Management’s Edward P. Evans Hall. (Photo courtesy of Viveca Morris.)

Report a Dead or Injured Bird

If you find a dead or injured bird near a building in Connecticut, you can make an important contribution to bird research by filling out a Yale-ABC-Peabody report - OR - by logging into your iNaturalist account.

Data collected by community scientists like you help us to understand the problem of bird-building collisions, what causes them, and ways to prevent them from occurring. We regularly share this data with city officials and conservations groups in Connecticut.