Lights Out, Texas: 170 Million Reached and a Major Bird-Friendly Design Win

As an education and awareness campaign, Lights Out, Texas! continues to spread across the state to neighbors, friends, and families thanks to the work done by members and partners across Texas. We are grateful to everyone who has shared this campaign on social media or put out a yard sign. Over the course of Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, we saw roughly 70 earned media pieces and countless social media shares reaching an estimated 170 million people. That type of engagement can truly change the state.

Bringing the Story to New Audiences

Stations like Telemundo San Antonio visited the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center to film a segment on Lights Out, Texas, capturing both an interview and footage of the site, which provided additional audience outreach. This coverage has inspired plans to translate education materials into Spanish for Fall 2026. This work is not possible without dedicated partners, and we appreciate the Amon G. Carter Foundation for hosting a Lights Out, Texas film screening in Fort Worth that brought together approximately 130 community members. The event engaged city officials, building owners, and operators, many of whom connected strongly with the program's message.

A Major Milestone for Bird-Friendly Design

Partnerships with Texas Conservation Alliance, Environment Texas, and American Bird Conservancy have helped us reach a major goal: in 2026, the Dallas Convention Center announced their remodel would include bird-friendly glass. This major success will be a catalyst for future bird-friendly design across the state.

According to BirdCast, during April 2026 we saw nearly 26,000 birds per kilometer of airspace across Texas, a staggering number of birds, and we unfortunately are still recording hundreds of collisions. Looking forward, we are exploring a potential partnership aimed at advancing systemic updates to building lighting through policy and code improvements that can happen automatically, so buildings can play an active role in protecting birds every year.