Help Birds by Turning Out the Lights
Submitted by Johanna Arendt and Jeremy Hull, Travis County Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.
Photo of Summer tanager male (above) by Julia Land.
Special thanks to Texan by Nature for the information and graphics (see below) related to their Lights Out Texas initiative.
The great fall migration has begun. Each year, hundreds of millions of birds travel through Texas as they fly south for the winter, mostly traveling at night. There is a growing effort to help these birds by taking a simple action – turning off un-necessary lighting through November 30.
Lights Out Texas is an initiative led by a coalition of partners including conservation non-profits, universities, local governments, and Texans dedicated to the conservation of birds. It is coordinated statewide by Texan by Nature, a non-profit founded by former First Lady Laura Bush.
In a recent letter, Mrs. Bush invites Texans to “protect migrating birds by turning off non-essential lights at night from 11 pm – 6 am during the fall migration period of August 15 – November 30. Where conflicts apply, prioritize lights out during the critical peak fall migration period from September 5 to October 29. Each night and each light turned out helps save migrating birds.”
“Light pollution is a growing and underrecognized threat to birds. The light emanating from our cities disorients the birds, leaving them confused and vulnerable to collisions with buildings. In fact, nearly one billion birds are estimated to die annually due to collisions with buildings.”
In addition to saving birds, there are lots of benefits to turning off unnecessary lights. Light pollution obscures our view of the stars, negatively impacts human health, and affects many species of local wildlife by disrupting their physiological processes. And turning off unnecessary lights reduces energy usage, lowering electricity bills. For lights that are needed for security and other reasons, night-sky friendly lighting fixtures that point the light only where it’s needed (and not up into the sky) can go a long way towards reducing light pollution.
The Balcones Canyonlands Preserve (BCP) is home to the endangered golden-cheeked warbler that migrates each fall to southern Mexico and Central America. Many other migratory birds also nest in Austin during the spring and summer and then head south for the winter, including migrating hawks. Keep an eye out for large groups – called kettles – of Mississippi kites, Swainson’s hawks, or broad-winged hawks. Songbirds passing through include yellow warblers, Wilson’s warblers, and Baltimore orioles. This will also be your last chance to see some of our summer residents like summer tanagers, painted buntings, chimney swifts, and purple martins before they head south for the winter.
To see when migration is at its busiest, check out www.BirdCast.info, an online tool created by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Colorado State University, and UMass Amherst that uses weather radar to track birds on their migration routes.
Learn more about the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve at www.traviscountytx.gov/tnr/nr/.
Additional Lights Out Info from Taylor Keys of Texan by Nature
- Turn off non-essential lights (inside and outside) from 11 pm – 6 am during the full fall migration period, and where conflicts apply, prioritize lights out during the critical peak migration period
Fall Migration Dates
- Full Fall Migration Period: August 15 – November 30
- Critical Fall Peak Migration Period: September 5 – October 29
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