Sunday, March 8, 2009

Hey You! Turn Off Your Freaking Skyscraper Lights!

I knew tall buildings where magnets of death for birds, but this is the first I heard about the Aububon Society's 'Lights Out' program in big cities during peak migration times. And, duh, who knew, your company can also save money. Huh. (Please not the sarcasm.) Have some stuff I stole from another website and tossed together:


The critical times for the birds are during their migrations: The spring migration runs from March 15 to May 31, the fall one from Aug. 15 to Oct. 31.

During those times, small songbirds, including warblers and thrushes, migrate at night, guided by the stars, the horizon and rivers.... It's believed that the light from buildings and communication towers draws birds off course -- especially when clouds are low and birds tend to fly lower.

Once drawn to the lights, birds end up circling in the glow, having difficulty finding the way out. Often they crash into buildings or drop to rooftops or the ground from exhaustion, she said.

Nationwide, estimates range from 100 million to 1 billion birds a year that die because they fly into buildings.

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