A tiny Portuguese island goes dark for five nights every autumn so that baby seabirds can find their way to the sea — and the tradition has now helped save more than 30,000 fledglings. On Corvo, the smallest and most northerly island in the Azores, public lighting was switched off at 9 p.m. until 4 a.m. for five nights in late October, during the critical period when young Cory’s shearwaters leave their nests.
According to the Good News Network and BrightWire, both reporting on 2 November 2026, Corvo’s roughly 400 to 450 residents have partnered since 2019 with the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA) and the local council for the blackouts. The island is the only one in the Azores to switch off its public lighting entirely for this purpose.
Why lights are deadly for fledglings
Young shearwaters, known locally as cagarros, leave their nests between October and November and set off at night to avoid predators, steering by the stars. Artificial light disorients them, and thousands of fledglings become grounded across the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands each year, crashing into streets instead of reaching the water.
The blackout removes that confusion. The Guardian’s photo essay on the campaign reports that more than 30,000 Cory’s shearwater fledglings have been rescued in the Azores since 2015, including about 6,000 on Corvo alone. Rescued birds spend the night resting in a cardboard box and are released from a cliff near the ocean the next day.
A community that chose darkness
The blackout enjoys unanimous support in a SPEA survey of 207 Corvo residents, according to the Good News Network, and forms part of two projects — Interreg LuMinAves, which aims to mitigate light pollution’s impact on seabirds, and Interreg EElabs, which focuses on sustainable use of artificial lighting. SPEA’s wider SOS Cagarro rescue campaigns continue until 5 November, with volunteers mobilised to rescue birds that fall ashore.
There is something quietly moving about an entire island agreeing to sit in the dark so that birds can find the stars. Corvo’s residents lose nothing but a few hours of streetlight, and the shearwaters gain the sky. It is conservation at its simplest: notice a problem, change one habit, and watch 30,000 small lives make it to sea.
