Islands Near Portugal Turn Off Lights to Save Seabird Fledglings—30,000 Already Rescued

Corvo Island in the Azores has switched off public lighting for five nights every autumn since 2019 to protect Cory's shearwater fledglings from fatal collisions with buildings, saving over 30,000 birds. The initiative began in 1991 when locals noticed young shearwaters dying after confusing streetlights for starlight during their first flight to the ocean.