Amit Patel / CC
Louisiana Wildlife Federation is encouraging building owners, businesses, and residents to participate in turning off bright or excess outdoor lighting from 11 PM to 6 AM every day through November 15 to help protect the billions of migratory birds that fly through Louisiana at night. LWF Board Member Charles Williams says city lights can misguide birds, diverting them off course with often dire consequences…
“This is a hazardous time for birds. They’re flying long distances because they migrate mainly at night. They frequently run into windows on buildings and homes. They become confused by the light and many of them die.”
During the 2022 fall migration, an estimated 478 million birds migrated through the state of Louisiana. Williams says buildings and windows kill roughly a million birds in the U-S every year.
“It’s the leading cause of bird deaths in North America. It’s an easy thing to stop those deaths if we can lower or eliminate exterior lighting.”
LWF passed a resolution earlier this year requesting that all public buildings observe ‘lights out’ as the official policy of the state. Williams says reducing lighting is one of the easiest ways everyone can take part in this initiative.
“If they work in an office building they can talk to the building owner or manager about getting the light dim or turned off. At home, they can also turn down their lights. They can draw their shades so that the birds aren’t seeing the light coming out of the home.”
To read the full resolution, https://lawildlifefed.org/resolution/lights-out-to-save-migrating-birds/
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