(Not) Lighting the Way For Birds
Updated April 18, 2022
By day, we see and hear birds all around — while birding, at feeders, or flitting around the neighborhood. When night comes, birds might not be at the top of our minds, but that doesn’t mean that our actions don’t affect them.
Many birds migrate at night, and they evolved to make the journey with light from natural sources such as the stars and the moon. Artificial light interferes with their navigation and can cause birds to fly off course toward brightly lit urban areas. They can become disoriented and exhausted from flying in circles in beams of light and can collide with building glass. At a time of year when all their energy needs to go to flying sometimes thousands of miles, these hazards can mean the difference between life or death. And many cities — sources of the most light — are directly in migratory flyways.
Fortunately, many communities are taking action to reduce their impacts. There are over two dozen “lights out” programs in cities around the country, and many are part of the Urban Bird Treaty Cities network.
Here are some additional highlights from “lights out” programs:
- Denver: Partners including Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, the City of Denver and Denver Audubon are sharing best practices with homeowners and businesses, and collecting collision data to see where attention is needed most.
- Chicago: Efforts to reduce the use of lighting in the Chicago Loop have saved an estimated 10,000 birds annually so far.
- Baltimore has been enrolling buildings — including the Maryland Science Center — in the Lights Out program to reduce decorative lighting at night. The organization’s volunteers also rescue and recover birds that have collided with buildings in the city.
- Flagstaff, Arizona has been so successful at turning off the lights that they have been designated International Dark Sky Communities — places where people flock to see the starry skies.
There is lots more happening around the country too! Check out our interactive storymap to learn about projects in other cities.
By now, you might be wondering how you can get involved. In most cases, organizations in lights out cities actively welcome volunteers. In others, you can encourage local civic or conservation groups to start one up. And of course, there are things you can do around your home or office.
• Turn off lights when not in use. Or better yet, install motion sensors on indoor and outdoor lights, especially during the bird migration periods (early April through late May and mid-August through early November), and periods of inclement weather.
• Use window shades to minimize light “spills,” and use light shields on outside fixtures to keep light from shining into the sky.
• In public or commercial buildings, make sure that any lights that are not motion-activated are turned off at night, especially architectural lighting, upper story interior lighting, and lobby or atrium lighting.
Reducing light use doesn’t just help birds; it saves money, reduces energy use and pollution, and brings the added benefit of seeing starrier skies. International Dark Sky Places are even becoming tourist attractions, bringing benefits to local economies. Not to mention, the more we help birds at night, the more they will be around for us to see in the daytime.
For a more in-depth look at what you can do — for lighting, and even reducing daytime collisions with windows — check out our building, glass and lighting guide. You can also take find estimates of peak migration dates in some major cities around the country to find the most important times to keep the lights down (and also good for estimating bird watching opportunities).
So, when you are thinking about bird migration, or relaxing in your home at night, remember — sometimes it’s a bright idea to be in the dark.
