Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird … Wait, make that millions of birds. The Maryland Department of the Environment sent out an interesting tweet late Monday afternoon, asking residents to turn off their outdoor lights for the overnight.
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That’s due to a unique bird migration over the state. A model by BirdCast predicts 4.1 million birds will be traversing the Maryland skies overnight. In just Baltimore, there will be over 30,000 feathered friends. Though, in Silver Spring, the numbers will reach almost 4,000. In the northeastern part of the U.S., there will be about 50 million birds in the air. Virginia will have almost 15 million birds in its skies. For more info on the birds, visit the BirdCast website to see which species will be on the move. The migration includes birds both flying north and south for the winter. Some birds will be making their way to the D.C. area for their winter stays, while others will be leaving. The combination means there will be quite a few more birds in the sky than normal. The advisory suggests you turn off your outdoor floodlights so the birds don’t become disoriented and fly into buildings or wind up in urban areas that are not hospitable. If you are familiar with the bird calls this summer, it’s likely, the website notes, that you will wake up Tuesday to some new sounds. So keep your ears open.
