Hawaiʻi asks residents to reduce lights during seabird fallout season

Hawaiʻi’s Department of Land and Natural Resources is asking residents to turn off unnecessary outdoor lights and report injured seabirds during the annual fallout season, which runs approximately Sept. 15 through Dec. 15. DLNR says the guidance applies statewide in Hawaiʻi.

Artificial lights can disorient young Newell’s shearwaters, Hawaiian petrels and wedge-tailed shearwaters on their first flights from nests, leaving them exhausted or injured, the agency says. It recommends low-intensity lights shielded to shine downward. The annual request is seasonal guidance, not a new lighting restriction.

DLNR says young birds near nest burrows should be left alone if they have no obvious injury. People who find injured birds should contact island-specific wildlife responders. On Maui, the Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project lists 573-BIRD (808-573-2473) as its hotline. The project reported recovering more than 300 seabirds after fallout incidents on Maui in 2025, most released successfully at sea, according to Maui Now. DLNR directs people who find multiple sick or dead seabirds to contact the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.