Corvo is turning off its lights so young shearwaters can follow the stars to sea.
A tiny Atlantic island is dimming its nights to give fledgling seabirds a safer first flight.
Corvo, the smallest island in the Azores, is switching off public lighting during the hours when young Cory's shearwaters leave their nests. The birds navigate toward the Atlantic at night, but artificial light can lure them inland, where they may collide, become grounded, dehydrate or meet predators.
WHAT HAPPENED
SPEA says Corvo is turning its public lights fully off from midnight to 5 a.m. on 21–24 October, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on 25–30 October, and again from midnight to 5 a.m. on 31 October–5 November. The blackout, paired with volunteer rescue brigades, is timed for the fledging peak. SPEA says six years of the measure have demonstrated fewer groundings and collision deaths.
WHY THIS IS HOPESLOP
This is conservation at the scale of a light switch: a whole community temporarily changes its night so wildlife can follow an older map. The blackout cannot remove every threat facing seabirds, and seasonal counts still matter, but it is a concrete, repeatable intervention that directly reduces a known human-made hazard.
ORIGINAL SOURCESPEA — Portuguese Society for the Study of BirdsRead the original report
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