Final signature count: 15,697

15,697 signatures toward our 30,000 goal

Some say olives taste better if they are harvested at night, that cooler temperatures enhance the flavor.

However, nocturnal harvesting also results in millions of dead birds¹.

At least 2 million birds are killed each year by the olive industry’s harvesting practices².

In Portugal alone, an average of 6.4 birds are killed in every hectare of olive groves³.

In Portugal and Spain, where many of the world’s olives come from, olive season spans from October to January. During the same period, migrating birds are passing through the two Mediterranean countries. Millions of birds make their homes in the olive trees during warm nights⁴.

Birds are typically safe from the threat of harvesting during the day. It is easier for birds to escape harvesting tractors when they are awake. But the bright lights used by harvesters confuse the birds at night, causing them to get sucked into the vacuums and killed⁵.

The same birds are then sold, illegally, to local hotels to be served as ‘pajarito frito,’ or fried bird⁶.

Species such as warblers, thrushes, wagtails, finches, and robins are commonly killed by the millions. The ecological consequences of this slaughter could cause entire biomes to collapse⁷.

Globally, migratory bird populations have plummeted in recent years and European farmland avian species specifically have been hit hard. In the past 30 years, their populations have fallen by 55%. Considering that over 1 million animal species are now in danger of disappearing from the Earth because of human practices, there is little time to delay in calling for stronger restrictions on industries and governments that contribute to this killing⁸.

Sign the petition below and help us ask Portugal and Spain to ban night harvesting and the sale of dead bird “bycatch” to hotels as food, and further require olive growers who harvest at night to monitor and report the number of birds killed in their machines as other industries do.