Lights out for birds: Calgary group calls for action during migration season

Bird Friendly Calgary wants homes and businesses to consider turning off their lights at night between March 20 and May 31, 2026. (Pexels/Ken Jacobsen)

A Calgary birding group is encouraging home and business owners to consider switching out their lights overnight to foster safe flights for migratory birds.

Bird Friendly Calgary says spring migration is beginning soon – with the arrival of the spring equinox – which typically brings the first wave of robins to the city.

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Since birds use stars to guide their path home, the group is asking Calgary residents and business owners to turn off their lights each night, from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., to assist in the trip.

It’s an initiative the group calls Lights Out for Birds.

“Most small birds migrate at night when it is cooler, less windy and there are fewer avian predators,” Bird Friendly Calgary said in a Thursday news release.

“Nighttime light pollution can disorient them and draw them into the city where they are subject to window collisions and cat predation.”

In addition to switching out the lights, the organization is also suggesting windows of homes and businesses be marked and pets be kept indoors or always supervised.

Bird Friendly Calgary says the window markings must encompass the entire window, no further than five centimetres from other marks. It said a single hawk decal does not work.

Lights Out for Birds runs from March 20 to May 31.