Corvo Island turns off its public lighting annually to reduce the impact of artificial light on Cory’s shearwaters.

The island that goes dark to save young seabirds https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/25/corvo-azores-corys-shearwaters-switch-off-saving-seabirds-aoe "Every autumn, #Corvo Island in the #Azores turns off its public lighting for a few key days to help fledgling Cory’s #shearwaters as they attempt to fly to the ocean guided by the stars... It began in 1991 when the community noticed huge numbers of deaths among #birds... Local people began rescuing them at night, roaming through the village in the dark. This inspired other communities" #Birds #LightPollution #Portugal

"Once a year, Corvo, the smallest and most northerly island of Portugal’s Azores archipelago, goes dark. Since 2019, the island’s 450 or so inhabitants have chosen to switch off the lights every autumn for five nights to tackle the disastrous effects of artificial light on Cory’s shearwaters, a seabird endemic to the Atlantic Ocean." https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/25/corvo-azores-corys-shearwaters-switch-off-saving-seabirds-aoe

Lights out: the island that goes dark to save young seabirds – in pictures. Every autumn, Corvo Island in the Azores turns off its public lighting for a few key days to help fledgling Cory’s shearwaters as they attempt to fly to the ocean guided by the stars. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/25/corvo-azores-corys-shearwaters-switch-off-saving-seabirds-aoe