As we start to say goodbye to long summer days and settle into the rhythms of a new season, we turn once again to our bird of the year, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. September marks full-fledged migration for these winged jewels, and if they have not already departed from your yard or favorite birding hotspot, they will soon be on the wing. 

We learned from our previous blog posts that Ruby-throats will often travel around 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico in one go on a solitary journey that can take 18 hours non-stop. But for many, that isn’t the end of their arduous journey, and may only be the beginning. Ruby-throats have been documented traveling more than 2,000 miles between their summer and winter homes, settling into the tropical reaches of Panama for the winter at their farthest south, while calling the picturesque landscapes of southern Canada for their northern ranges in the summer.

These arduous journeys are fraught with hazards. Some are natural challenges such as storms and predators, but a large majority of these challenges now come directly or indirectly from humans: invasive outdoor cats, habitat destruction and fragmentation, and windows. The latter of these obstacles was recently verified to kill over one billion birds a year in a new study published in PLOS ONE. This new research shockingly shows that we have been underestimating the impact of windows on bird populations and throws into sharp relief the urgency to take action in this glass-covered world. 

Why do birds run into glass in the first place? The research behind the answer to this seemingly innocuous question has lasted decades. Though many hypothesis have been raised and tested through the years (such as birds consuming fermented berries and being “drunk” causing them to run into windows, or sun-glares blinding birds while they fly to name a couple), the prevailing answers are that birds either do not see the glass at all and view it as a place to fly through, or they see their reflected habitat, and again view it as a place to fly through. At night, birds may see lights from within the building, impacting their flight at night and causing disorientation. 

Luckily, Wake Audubon has been on the fore-front of gathering data and working to make a difference for birds in Wake County for several years through their bi-annual Lights Out Wake initiative. Dedicated volunteers each migration season work to connect with businesses and city officials to encourage buildings to go dark between the hours of 11 PM and 6 AM during peak migration times. These hours have been targeted because a majority of birds have been found to migrate primarily at night, and lights from buildings and outdoor lighting can cause birds to become disoriented on their journey, leading to window collisions and other challenges that can lead to fatality. You too can become an integral part of this initiative by signing the resident pledge or the commercial building pledge to make your buildings dark between March 15-May 31 and September 10-November 30 between 11 PM and 6 AM. 

As you bid farewell to our jeweled summer residents, take some time to think about how you can make a positive impact on their southern journey.  Whether it be through volunteering with the Lights Out initiative, closing your curtains at night, adding window treatment to your windows to make them more visible, or signing the pledge to make the skies darker, our feathered friends will thank you. 

By Kyra Thurow Bartow