Growing awareness of light’s fatal attraction to birds has led to action: NYC Audubon inaugurated Lights Out New York in 2005. Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP), the Toronto-based conservation society that spearheaded the lights-out movement in 1993, is succinct about the threat: “Across North America, more birds die from collisions each year than succumbed to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.” A landmark study conducted by the Field Museum in Chicago showed that by turning the lights off in one building, the number of bird kills dropped by an average of 83 percent. Confused by artificial lights, blinded by weather, unable to see glass, or simply exhausted by flying around the lights like moths near a flame, birds can be injured or killed.
In the dark, and especially in foggy or rainy weather when birds fly at lower altitudes, the combination of glass and light becomes deadly.
“It is estimated that some 90,000 birds die annually in New York City because of collisions with buildings,” says Susan Elbin, NYC Audubon’s director of conservation and science. But here, as in other North American urban areas, birds face a significant danger: colliding with a building or structure. New York City in the USA has long been a favourite site for foreign visitors – including millions of birds. 12, with roughly 11,000 flying over the Denver metro.Birds on the edge Saving coastal birds and habitats from extinction The Colorado State University Aeroeco Lab estimates 6.1 million birds will fly over Colorado on the night of Sept. “That’s why artificial light from our buildings disorients them.” “When they’re migrating at night, they use the stars and moon to navigate,” Barrientos said. Lights at night can throw birds into confusion and exhaust them leaving them vulnerable and depleting their energy during a journey of thousands of miles, according to Barrientos.
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