The state of New York will start turning off nonessential outdoor lights on state-managed buildings at night as part of the plan to help migrating birds get to their destination without any injury or death.
New York City has been a favorite spot for foreign visitors, including millions of traveling birds.
New York is along the Atlantic Flyway, one of the four major migration paths birds take to travel from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and the birds depend on constellations at night to guide them in navigation along the summer breeding grounds. The other primary migration courses for North American birds include the Central, Mississippi, and Pacific Flyways.
During nighttime, specifically in foggy or rainy weather when birds fly at lower altitudes, the combination of light and glass becomes fatal. Artificial lights can distract flying birds so they crash into glass walls, which often leads to serious injuries or deaths. This phenomenon, commonly known as fatal light attraction, slaughters approximately 500 million to 1 billion birds annually based on data from U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fatal light attraction seems to affect migratory songbirds such as sparrows, thrushes and warblers more than local birds, which have learned the places they can fly safely.
The state will be adopting guidelines of the Audubon Society's Lights Out program, joining a number of New York City's landmark building owners, including the Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler Building, Silverstein properties, the Worldwide Plaza and the Time Warner Center, by turning off the lights from 11 p.m. until dawn during birds' spring rush north from April 15 until May 31 and again during fall migration south to warmer climates, from Aug. 15 to Nov. 15.
"This is a simple step to help protect these migrating birds that make their home in New York's forests, lakes and rivers," Andrew Cuomo, New York governor, said in a statement.
He also announced the new "I Love NY Birding" website, which will provide information on bird watching and how to participate in the Lights Out initiative.The site notes more than 450 species of birds call New York home at some point during the year.
Not only does the state of New York save and protect migrating birds by following the Lights Out system, in Toronto the guidelines have saved Metro Hall about $200,000 in energy costs.
The Lights Out system guidelines have also been aiding birds in East Coast cities including Washington and Baltimore, and in other U.S. metropolitan areas that includes Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Chicago, according to the Audubon Society.
Photo: Christopher Eliot | Flickr
