Birds hit buildings at all hours during the day and night. At night migrating birds can be distracted by bright lights in our cities. During the day the problem is reflection or other confusing aspects of glass.
The strategy is simple: by convincing building owners and managers to turn off excess lighting during the months migrating birds are flying overhead, we help to provide them safe passage between their nesting and wintering grounds. Our efforts continue to grow, with more than 50 cities and regions involved in Lights Out Programs, encompassing many of the most dangerous metropolitan areas for migratory birds. By coupling Lights Out activities with bird-safe buildings actions, we are making the skies safer for birds year-round.
For more than a century, we’ve preserved bird habitats, conducted scientific research, influenced policymakers to enact commonsense conservation laws, and engaged communities across the hemisphere to protect the natural resources upon which birds—and we—depend. Our hemispheric approach recognizes that the majority of bird species in the Americas migrate annually between Canada, the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Our programs are like the birds—not bound by political boundaries and seamlessly integrated across the Western Hemisphere. We are working to halt, and ultimately reverse, the decline of bird populations across the Americas.
Will you join us?
From communication towers and tall buildings to residential windows and glass doors, birds face a multitude of dangers as they navigate our built environment. Simple solutions can make your community and the skies safer for birds.
The Audubon network is protecting birds from collisions through Lights Out and bird-friendly glass.
Weather conditions, a pulse of migrating warblers, and bright lights combined to create a wave of bird death across the city Thursday morning.
