Lights Out Texas!
August 15
Lights Out Texas! begins August 15 and runs until November 30. Everyone is encouraged to turn off non-essential lights at night from 11:00 pm to 6 am during the spring migration period.
Birds can become disoriented by bright artificial lights and skyglow, often causing them to collide with buildings or windows. Just one building can cause major problems for birds in the area; within one week in 2017, nearly 400 passerines (warblers, grosbeaks, etc) were caught in the floodlights of a 32 story Texas skyscraper and killed by window collisions.
While lights can throw birds off their migration paths, bird fatalities are more directly caused by the amount of energy the birds waste flying around and calling out in confusion. The exhaustion can leave them vulnerable to other urban threats.
Originally launched in 2017 by Houston Audubon, Lights Out Texas! has grown due to standardization with other leading organizations. The goal is to reduce migratory bird mortality by increasing statewide participation of cities and building owners to turn off non-essential lights.
This is not something you can get VMS credit for but it’s good for your soul!
