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When converting to new lighting, assess the quality and quantity of light needed and avoid over-lighting with newer, brighter technology.ĭenver's 16th Street Mall.Install automatic motion sensors and controls wherever possible.Use shielding and aiming so that no light is emitted upwards.Switch to task and area lighting for workers staying late or cover the windows.Turn off interior lighting, especially on higher stories.Reduce atrium lighting wherever possible.Here are ways you can contribute to the Lights Out solution: The strategy is simple: by convincing building owners and managers to turn off excess lighting during the months migrating birds are flying overhead, we help provide them safe passage between their nesting and wintering grounds. For example, within one week in 2017, nearly 400 songbirds were caught in the floodlights of a 32-story Texas skyscraper and killed via window collisions.Īudubon’s Lights Out program is a national effort to reduce this problem. Just one building can cause major problems for birds. Light pollution affects dozens of species, including those we have identified as most in need of and most likely to benefit from our help, such as the Burrowing Owl, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Grasshopper Sparrow. The exhaustion can then leave them vulnerable to other urban threats and deplete their energy reserves needed for surviving migration and producing chicks in subsequent breeding seasons. While lights can cause birds to collide with buildings and windows, bird fatalities are more directly caused by the amount of energy the birds waste flying around in confusion. However, as they pass over towns and cities on their way, many become disoriented by bright artificial lights and skyglow. More than 80 percent of them travel at night, navigating with the night sky. Save migratory birds by turning off outdoor lights.Įvery year in North America, more than 3.5 billion birds move north in the spring and 4 billion birds fly south in the fall.
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