09/01/2026
If you haven’t heard yet, fall migration is officially underway! Even though our nursery is still busy with late nesting species like American Goldfinches and Mourning Doves, select species around Michigan are beginning to make their trip South. With this in mind, limited use of outdoor lighting is becoming more and more important each day. An estimated 1,000,000,000+ birds die from building and window collisions in the U.S. each year, with artificial night lighting acting as a primary driver that disorients nocturnal migratory birds and lures them into fatal urban traps.
In order to protect birds during this vulnerable time, please consider taking part in Lights Out by turning off non-essential outdoor lighting from 11:00pm to 6:00am from August 15th until October 15th. In addition to mindful light usage, please keep an extra eye out for grounded songbirds in urban areas, and reach out to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for further steps!