The fall "Lights Out" campaign starts on August 15 in Hampton Roads.
As part of this voluntary program, we urge property managers, businesses, tenants, government agencies, and residents to join us in helping to prevent night-time bird collisions with building by turning off and/or blocking as many external and internal building lights at workplaces as possible at night to help prevent injury and death of migrating birds, especially from 11 pm to sunrise.
Most of the birds migrate at night and rest during the day. Every year, thousands of birds becoming disoriented by bright artificial lights and skyglow of cities, often causing them to collide with buildings or windows, or exhaust themselves circling bright lights in the city, resulting in a major hazard during the annual fall and spring migration. Around 1 billion birds are killed each year in building and structure collisions each year.
Please help by turning off lights visible outside after dark. Research conducted over 50 years by scientists at the Field Museum in Chicago quantified the bird-saving potential of turning lights out in downtown buildings. Halving lighted window areas decreased collision counts by 11 times in spring and 6 times in fall. Lights Out has secondary benefits in protecting moths, reducing light pollution, reducing energy costs for businesses, and reducing the region's overall carbon footprint.
If you want to learn more about the campaign or want to volunteer to help with outreach or monitoring, please e-mail us at capehenryaudubonsociety@gmail.com
.jpg)
