![]() Learn more about existing Lights Out programs. ![]() In addition it will save money and electricity while reducing carbon emissions. This action has the potential to dramatically reduce the number of bird fatalities caused by city lights. Toronto, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis-St, Paul and Detroit have some of the most successful programs. The same night after 11 pm Photo: Eric Fogelman Artificial light at night (ALAN) on tall or upward-pointed lighting installations affects the flight behavior of night-migrating birds. In Chicago, one Lights Out building showed an 80 percent decrease in strike rates after joining the Lights Out movement. ![]() They are then more vulnerable to collisions with windows and other structres, and are easy prey for predators such as the gulls who have learned to patrol urban streets in the early morning hours. Lights Out programs help to prevent birds from being attracted to urban areas. Birds circle builings and become exhausted. However, we do not know whether UV-sensitive birds in flight actually respond behaviourally to UV lights. Utilizing (ultra)violet lights may in addition not disturb humans. Lighted skyscrapers may simply confuse them. For species that are mainly active at lower ambient light levels, lighting may deter birds from the lit area. As an extension of the city-wide Lights Out for Birds program, Houston Audubon has partnered with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to launch Lights Out Texas - a science-based campaign with the. Scientists aren’t sure why this happens but it may be related to the fact that among many navigational cues, birds use the stars to stay on course. Turning out nonessential lights from April 19 - May 7 is one of the most impactful local actions you can make to save the lives of birds on their journey. Landbirds such as warblers, thrushes, and kinglets migrate at night and can be drawn off course by tall lighted structures in their flight path. In many cities around the United States, building owners have voluntarily agreed to extinguish their exterior decorative lighting and to dim atrium and lobby lights at key times during the migration season. Chicago before 11 pm, showing lit exterior and decorative lighting Photo: Eric Fogelman Lights Out Texas is a campaign of education, awareness, and action that focuses on turning out lights at night during the spring and fall migrations to help protect the billions of migratory birds that fly over Texas annually.
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