spoilers) I had to put the book down and grab me some tissues. At three different moments I *so* want to talk about (but won't because. I can watch the most dramatic of tear-jerker movies without batting an eyelash, but put a heartbreaking moment in a well-written book and I cannot hold them back. This book had me a bit choked up more than once. Many of the same characters are here, now three years older. The first 2/3 the book was a slow burn similar to The Hidden City. “Birds are like big raindrops, basically,” Farnsworth said.I will not lie to you. Scientists estimate more than 450 million birds countrywide will take wing Wednesday night - with particularly heavy traffic in the middle of the country a few hours after sunset.Ĭornell and Colorado State University scientists use many methods to track the movement, but especially radar, which picks up avian bodies the same way it picks up weather. Wednesday night and Thursday nights looked poised for big movement over Kansas City and the two states.
On Tuesday night, about 25 million birds migrated through Kansas and less than half a million through Missouri. North America has lost an estimated 25% of its bird population since 1970, or about 3 billion birds. “Generally speaking, the center of the United States is the thoroughfare for bird migration.” “Kansas is a great spot to think about (this) really massive movement,” Farnsworth said. Porch lights and uncurtained rooms dot suburbia, disorienting the nocturnal pilgrims and drawing them toward populated areas where they slam into buildings. Lights-out campaigns have gained momentum in cities such as Houston to darken skyscrapers and commercial centers throughout migration season.īut scientists say you don’t have to own major real estate to help. The traffic over Kansas typically peaks in late September and early October, Farnsworth says. It’s a colorful blitz of wildly diverse creatures moving under the protection of darkness that cities and suburbs interrupt. Hundreds of species that might never hang out together on their summer stomping grounds converge high above our sleeping heads on their way to Mexican grasslands, Caribbean shores and Amazonian rainforests.įrom teeny, hyperactive hummingbirds that flap like mad to hulking raptors that seem barely to move their wings, migration is more than the tranquil image of geese flocking in a V shape above red-tinged maples. Most of this movement happens between sunset and sunrise. about three hours after sunset Wednesday evening. This bird forecast produced by Colorado State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology shows heavy migration in the central U.S. Major pulses of migration tend to happen every few days. Good tailwinds can mean the difference between tens of thousands versus tens of millions of birds filling Kansas skies. Fall is also a great time to visit parks during the day in search of migrating birds that stop over.Įach fall, 700 million to 800 million birds head south through Kansas, but the nightly traffic varies immensely.
#CITY OF NIGHT BOOK FULL#
“If you use binoculars or a telescope, you can see birds fly past the face of the full moon,” he said. Many birds call to each other while on the wing. “Listening is a great way to experience it,” said Andrew Farnsworth, a scientist who researches migration at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Shut your blinds and curtains to keep your kitchen and living room lights from spilling into the night so that fewer birds die on their journey south by colliding into buildings or landing in cities and suburbs packed with danger.Īnd consider heading outdoors, preferably someplace quiet, to seek signs of this massive migration. Scientists say they need your help.įor starters, turn off any outdoor lights you can this time of year. A head-spinning number of birds will fly over Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
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