Bird migrations are picking up steam as fall officially begins this week, and millions of birds are expected to fly over Illinois and the Chicago area.
According to the latest estimates from Birdcast, approximately 54.2 million birds crossed Illinois on Sunday night and into Monday morning, with nearly 70 million birds in flight early Monday morning.
While low numbers of birds are expected to migrate overnight Monday and into Tuesday, things are expected to pick up dramatically because of cool weather and a lack of precipitation Tuesday night, with a migration alert in effect for the Chicago area, according to Birdcast.
More than 377 million birds have crossed over Illinois during the fall migration so far, according to estimates.
Warbling vireo’s, Eastern Wood-Pewees and American Redstarts are among the most common birds crossing the area this week as they head south for the winter months.
It is expected that more than 400 million birds will be in flight over a section of the country that includes all of Iowa and most of Illinois, with concentrated flights over the Mississippi River Valley.
Residents and businesses are asked to take steps to protect migrating birds, including turning off all unnecessary exterior lights, and blocking windows with blinds and curtains to keep birds from being disoriented by lights during overnight hours.
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Residents are also asked to leave cats indoors when possible, as the animals can prey on exhausted or injured birds during overnight hours.
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