Victims of Window Collisions May Help Scientists

Photo: Study skins from “Lights Out - Recovering Our Night Sky,” Robin Duska

Robin Duska

Sadly, many of us have come across a dead bird, whether near a window or out on a trail, often a result of its collision with a window or other object. NVBA’s Bird Safe NOVA partners are working to reduce the number of collisions that result in bird deaths. 

Study skins from “Lights Out - Recovering Our Night Sky.” Photo: Robin Duska

When birds do die, can they be of use to scientists? “Absolutely,” says Museum Specialist Brian Schmidt of the Smithsonian’s Bird Division in the National Museum of Natural History. He frequently works with Lights Out D.C. and Lights Out Baltimore volunteers to ensure birds found dead can be relayed to the Smithsonian’s Bird Division and considered for inclusion in its collection of over 600,000 specimens. The Bird Division’s specimens are used by the Feather Identification Lab and over 300 researchers who visit every year to study migration, climate change, disease, parasite screening, seed dispersal and other bird-related topics. Lights Out volunteers end each spring and fall migration season by taking frozen birds and inventory lists to the Bird Division, where ornithologists like Brian prepare the birds as “study skins” or skeletons for the collection. 

Readers can learn more about bird-window collisions at the Smithsonian’s current “Lights Out—Recovering Our Night Sky” exhibition, which has been extended to December 2026 (see also this NVBA article on the exhibition). 

Lights Out D.C. and Lights Out Baltimore are able to accumulate the birds they find until the end of each migration season because they have permits from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. But you as an individual also may collect a dead bird for the scientists at the Bird Division under an allowance for opportunistic salvage, if you follow a few simple rules. 

• First, any dead bird you pick up must be donated or destroyed within seven calendar days. 

• Second the donated specimen should go to an entity like the Smithsonian’s Bird Division which has authorization to retain the specimens. 

• Third, if not donated, the dead bird must be destroyed by burial, incineration or landfill disposal. 

• Fourth, do not salvage dead birds from federal lands, where additional permitting requirements may apply, or other public lands or private property that is not your own without authorization. 

Note that additional requirements apply to eagles under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Here’s a link to a USFWS fact sheet on salvage of migratory birds.

How should you safely save a dead bird for a museum? According to the CDC, the health risk to humans from bird flu is low; however, wearing nitrate gloves or using a disposable object to move the bird into a clear resealable plastic bag is a common-sense precaution. Include a piece of paper listing the date when and the location where the bird was found along with your contact information, then seal the bag, removing as much air from the bag as possible. Keep the bird in a freezer until it can be relayed to the permitted institution. 

For questions about relaying dead birds to the Smithsonian’s Bird Division, contact Brian Schmidt at schmidtb@si.edu.

Robin Duska is a volunteer collections management assistant with Bird Division at the National Museum of Natural History

The Birds Are Coming! It’s Time to Turn Off Your Lights at Night

Photo: Purple Martins, Keith Kingdon/Audubon Photography Awards

Over 100 million birds will migrate through northern Virginia in the next two months. Tundra Swans, Dark-eyed Juncos, and other winter visitors have departed for their breeding grounds, while warblers, tanagers, phoebes, flycatchers, and other species are making their way from Central and South America to or through our area.

Eighty percent of our migrating birds migrate at night. They use a variety of cues to keep themselves on track, including the stars, Earth’s magnetic field, geographic landmarks, and genetics. However, excessive lights at night can be deadly for them. Some birds crash into lighted buildings at night, injuring or killing themselves. The worst recent example is the McCormack Place Convention Center, where over 1,000 birds died in one night, but smaller numbers of birds die from window collisions at night throughout the country. Other birds are distracted from their migration routes by lighted buildings and fly around the lights much like moths attracted to a light. They waste the precious energy they need to get to their breeding grounds, increasing the likelihood that they will never reach them.

You can do your part to help keep migrating birds safe by turning out your outdoor lights between 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM from now through the end of May. You also can install motion sensors on your lights, so they come on only when they are needed. 

You can also help birds by minimizing outdoor lights throughout the year. Scientific studies are making it increasingly clear that lights at night disturb birds’ sleep, causing them to lose weight, lay fewer eggs and have fewer baby birds that survive to leave the nest. 

Would you like to learn more about the effect of outdoor lights on birds? Join us for an online program about the importance of reducing outdoor lighting. Our speakers will be Joelle Gehring, the Acting Assistant Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Migratory Bird Program, and Jo Anna Lutmerding, a Biologist in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Migratory Bird Program. Joelle and Joanne are the co-leaders of the Bird Collision Prevention Alliance, a coalition of over 100 organizations (including NVBA) who are committed to making our built environment safer for birds. You can register for this free program here.

Help Our Migrating Songbirds

Photo: Common Yellowthroats, Gary Robinette

Tom Blackburn

We’re in the middle of fall migration season. For birdwatchers, fall migration can be challenging because the warblers are drabber, but, of course, it’s even more challenging for the birds! A recent study published in Global Change Biology by scientists with the National Audubon Society identifies fall migration as the most dangerous time for warblers.

Common Yellowthroat, Randy Streufert

Southbound migration in the fall is perilous for warblers and other songbirds for multiple reasons. There are many juvenile bids that are inexperienced in migration. And the birds take longer routes back to their wintering grounds compared to the quicker and more efficient northward journeys. The longer southbound journeys expose them to more of the hazards that can weaken or kill them, such as light pollution and developed landscapes. National Audubon reports that some of the declining species closely associated with harm from light pollution and landscapes include the Common Yellowthroat, Connecticut Warbler and Prairie Warbler, all of which migrate through northern Virginia.

That report reminds us of important measures all of us can take to help the warblers and other birds passing through northern Virginia during the fall. Because most of them fly at night, they can be disoriented by bright lights from tall buildings and sky glow from light pollution. Some crash into the buildings and are injured or die. Other birds fly around the lights, exhausting themselves. 

So, for the more than 160 million birds migrating through our area this fall, take a few simple steps to reduce some of those light hazards. If you live in a detached home or townhome

• Turn off interior lighting at night, especially on upper floors

• Close curtains or blinds

• Down-shield exterior lighting or limit lights to the ground level

• Turn off exterior decorative lighting

If you live in an apartment or condominium, or work in a multi-story building, turn off those interior lights at night and close your curtains or blinds. You also can help by contacting building managers and encouraging them to down-shield exterior lighting, turn off exterior decorative lighting, reduce lobby and atrium lighting, and extinguish spotlights and floodlights.

Let’s help our struggling birds so that we can welcome them back in the spring. If you have questions about other ways you can help, please contact our BirdSafe NoVA team at advocacy@nvbirdalliance.org. 

Don’t let Light Pollution Spoil Spring Migration—Turn out Those Lights!

Photo: Purple Martins, Keith Kindon/Audubon Photography Awards

Laura Anderko

The spring migration for birds is happening NOW - from March 15 through May 31 our feathered friends are making their long journeys north. It is estimated that over 100 million birds fly over northern Virginia in the spring. Migration usually occurs at night, and many birds use the stars to navigate. 

Artificial light can turn their migration journey into a deadly one. Bright lights and city skyglow attract the migrating birds, leading to window collisions or exhaustion from circling lit structures, and can lead to death. In some areas light pollution is doubling every 8-10 years, increasing concerns about the dangers to migrating birds. 

Bird Safe NOVA’s spring Lights Out for Birds campaign asks you to reduce the hazard to our migrants with a few simple actions:

• Turn off non-essential lights from 11 PM until 6 AM during critical migration periods, March 15 through May 31, and be ready to do the same for fall migration (September 1 through November 15).

• Where lights cannot be turned off for security or operational reasons, dim the lights or draw curtains where practical.

• Turn off decorative landscape lighting.

• Aim other outside lights down and make sure they are shielded to minimize light pollution.

• Prioritize warmer colors for outdoor lighting where lighting is absolutely needed. 

If you live or work in a multi-tenant building, encourage your building management to reduce excessive outdoor light during the migration season, and encourage tenants and other occupants to turn off indoor lights at night or close blinds to prevent glare, particularly from upper floors. We encourage you and your building management to sign our lights out pledge.

Bird Safe NOVA also is getting some assistance from local governmental authorities. Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors pledged to promote our campaign and identify county facilities where nighttime lighting can be reduced or eliminated during migration. It offers tips on reducing lights and helping birds on its website, and other northern Virginia jurisdictions have promoted dark skies to help birds and other wildlife.

To increase the fun of helping out northern Virginia’s migrants, make sure you use Cornell Lab’s BirdCast, which can give you information about migration in your location (migration dashboard), alerts for peak migration (for Washington, D.C.), and maps showing migration forecasts and live bird migration. The local alerts and forecasts can tell you when it is particularly important to douse those nighttime lights.

So, let’s all take steps to help migrants passing through our area make it to their northern breeding grounds. And consider what you can do during the rest of the year to reduce light pollution. Artificial light can be detrimental not just to birds, but to other wildlife and to people. In her book Night Magic, author Leigh Ann Henion describes how light impacts owls and many nocturnal pollinators such as insects and bats who depend on the dark for their survival and are important to our food supply. Bird Safe NOVA’s Restore the Night program seeks to reduce light pollution to protect our environment and migrating birds.

If you want to get more involved in helping us build a bird-safe community, contact NVBA at advocacy@nvbirdalliance.org and check out our Bird Safe NOVA resources.

The Birds Are Coming – Will the Lights Be Out?

Photo: Baltimore Orioles, Eric Nie/Audubon Photography Awards

Migration season is approaching fast. Between March 15 and May 31, 100 million birds will pass through northern Virginia, most of them flying at night. The birds can be disoriented by bright lights from tall buildings and sky glow from light pollution. Some crash into the buildings and are injured or die. Other birds fly around the lights, exhausting themselves. It’s critical that we take steps to help protect them. 

There are three ways you can help protect migrating birds. 

Help us talk to building managers. NVBA and other members of the Bird Safe NOVA partnership will be contacting building managers in the Tysons and Reston areas to tell them how important it is to turn lights out between 11 PM and 6 AM during migration season. How effective we’ll be will depend on how many people are willing to help. If you’d like to work with us on this project, please email advocacy@nvbirdalliance.org.

Search for birds injured or killed by window collisions. We will work with the Wildlife Rescue League to train volunteers who will walk around tall buildings early in the morning during migration season to document bird deaths from window collisions. Data on bird deaths can be used to help convince building managers to turn their lights out at night. We’ll provide training on where to go and what to do and provide business cards with contact information so people can let us know when they find dead birds. Of course, if the bird needs help, call the Wildlife Rescue League at 703-440-0800.

Help build a database of bird collisions. Jeremy Andre, an alumnus of George Mason University, has developed the One Stone Bird Map, a geographic information system (GIS) visualization project designed to track and analyze avian mortality across the DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area. The project’s objective is to shed light on the under-reported issue of bird deaths in urban areas, particularly from window collisions and outdoor cats. You can learn more about the project here.

You can also report bird deaths on iNaturalist’s Bird-Window Collisions website. The project will help quantify mortality of birds due to window collisions, identify hotspots of mortality, and propose mitigation measures.

We’re joining efforts around the country to protect birds from window collisions. 

Northern Virginia is far behind other areas of the country in working to protect birds from window collisions. The District of Columbia has a well-established Lights Out DC campaign run by City Wildlife. The Cape Henry Audubon Society has spearheaded a very effective Lights Out Hampton Roads campaign. They have established teams that walk key areas of Norfolk to find and report birds killed by window collisions and have convinced building managers to turn out or dim their lights during migration. Lights Out campaigns are operating throughout the country. National Audubon Society’s Lights Out Program map documents more than twenty cities with program to reduce outdoor lighting during migration season, including Philadelphia, New  York City, and Chicago. 

It’s time for Northern Virginia to do its part to protect birds. If you’d like to help, contact us at advocacy@nvbirdalliance.org.

Glass and Light Pollution Threaten Birds

Photo: The glass windows of the Martha Washington Library reflect trees and vegetation, Glenda Booth.

By Glenda C. Booth

Originally published in the Connection Newspapers, Oct. 24, 2024

On the Saturday overnight of Oct. 19-20, 352,400 birds crossed Fairfax County, most migrating to their wintering grounds. Every fall, around four billion birds fly from Canada into the United States and another 4.7 billion fly over the U.S. southern border, according to Cornell University experts. But birds face multiple hazards, including collisions into windows and human-caused light pollution, three speakers told 75 attendees at an Oct. 9 online program sponsored by the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance.

NVBA has launched a campaign to prevent bird deaths, citing a National Audubon Society study that found a 30 percent drop in bird populations in North America since 1970, which means more than one in four birds or three billion birds have been lost since then.

Most birds migrate in the fall to find food, explained Greg Butcher, retired Migratory Species Coordinator for U.S. Forest Service. While some birds like swallows and finches migrate during the day to feed on the wing, 80 percent migrate at night, he said.

Collisions with Glass

Over one billion birds die by colliding with glass in buildings in the U.S., Christine Sheppard of the American Bird Conservancy, told the group. A few bounce off, but “scavengers are good at snatching up carcasses,” she added.

“We are getting collisions everywhere because the birds are sucked into the built environment, not just high up in skyscrapers,” Sheppard explained. A Smithsonian Institution analysis estimated that houses and other buildings one-to-three stories tall account for 253 million bird fatalities; low-rise buildings four-to-11 stories high account for 339 million bird deaths; and high-rise buildings 11 floors and higher cause the deaths of 508,000 birds a year. Taller structures like skyscrapers have higher per building mortality rates, but residences are responsible for most because of their numbers.

Birds crash into windows because they perceive glass reflections of vegetation, landscapes or sky to be real and they try to reach the area. Last October, in one night, nearly 1,000 birds collided into Chicago’s mostly-glass McCormick Place Lakeside Center, the highest number on record then. American Bird Conservancy reports that once New York City’s Javits Convention Center was renovated and bird-friendly glass installed, collisions dropped by 90 percent.

NVBA is promoting bird-friendly designs for buildings and bird-friendly glass, for homes, for example, screens, decals and tape on windows’ exteriors.

Paracord hung in front of a window to warn birds not to fly into it. Photo: Powell Hutton

Some localities have adopted bird-friendly building requirements, Sheppard said, including Washington, D.C.; Howard County, Maryland; New York City; and Portland, Oregon.

Light Pollution

Laura Greenleaf from Dark Sky Virginia began by saying, “In the last 100 years, we’ve turned night into day … natural darkness is fundamental for all of us.” She contends that on the east coast, light pollution is increasing ten percent every year. The NVBA campaign brochure defines light pollution as “lights that are too bright, too white, mis-aligned or on all night,” like lit parking lots.

“We’re lighting up so much more than we need to, especially landscaping lighting,” she argued. “You can light sport fields without lighting the sky.”

Artificial night light affects birds’ foraging, predator-prey balances, emergence from shelter, communication, navigation and migration, Greenleaf maintained. “Insects are the foundation of the food web, but lights suck them out of the environment.” 

Lights Out D.C. volunteers walk Washington’s streets before sunrise during the migration season and collect dead and stunned birds.

Advocates are urging government officials to enact policies to “adopt lighting, construction and other measures to protect birds and other wildlife from the worst impacts of our built-up environment,” explained Tom Blackburn, NVBA Advocacy Chair. He added, “Revisions to lighting ordinances could be very effective in reducing light pollution. Rapidly-developing areas such as Tysons, Reston and Leesburg could require new construction to include bird-safe windows and incorporate Dark Sky International’s Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting into building design.”

The campaign also seeks to “convince business owners to adopt ‘Lights Out for Birds’ practices during spring and fall migration seasons, as many other towns and cities have done and to convince developers and architects to incorporate bird-safe windows into building designs.”

Fairfax County

Government policies vary widely. Kelly M. Atkinson, with Fairfax County’s Planning and Development Department, said, “Fairfax County is committed to safeguarding local wildlife and has implemented measures to mitigate the effects of outdoor lighting on birds and other wildlife. In 2020, the county amended its Zoning Ordinance to adhere to updated lighting industry standards that prioritize energy efficiency and restrict outdoor lighting to a maximum color temperature of 3,000 K.

“During the review of commercial and multi-family proposals going through the public hearing process, we ask applicants to provide information on bird-friendly design strategies which could include window glazing, lighting practices to reduce light emitted during evening hours and incorporation of natural landscaping around the building. Additionally, the Fairfax County Park Authority actively advocates for dark sky-friendly initiatives, urging residents and businesses to adopt measures that reduce light pollution and protect local ecosystems.”

Blackburn responded, “I am very pleased that Fairfax County has taken steps to reduce the adverse impacts of our built-up environment on birds and other wildlife. I am hopeful that we can work with county officials to promote additional measures, including supporting a ‘Lights Out’ policy during migration and reducing the recommended color temperature for lighting to 2,500 K.”

Find out more:

Reducing collisions: https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/; www.Birdsmartglass.org. 

Lights out: http://www.darkvirginiasky.org/ 

Bird migration: https://birdcast.info/ 

View the Oct. 9 NVBA webinar

NVBA Initiates a Bird Safe NOVA Campaign

Photo: Purple Martins, Keith Kingdon/Audubon Photography Awards

By Tom Blackburn

Billions of birds die each year from human-made causes. NVBA, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Nature Forward, DarkSky NOVA, DarkSky Virginia, Friends of Dyke Marsh, and Friends of Little Hunting Creek have formed a partnership, Bird Safe NOVA, in an effort to reduce the devastating toll on birds from excess light and window collisions.

Lights Out for Birds

More than 100 million birds migrate north through northern Virginia each spring, and 160 million birds, their numbers swelled by a successful breeding season, migrate south through northern Virginia in the fall. Most birds migrate at night to take advantage of calmer winds and lower temperatures, relying on the moon and the stars to help them navigate. The birds can be disoriented by bright lights from tall buildings and sky glow from light pollution and crash into the buildings or fly around the lights, squandering the energy needed to make their demanding journeys. 

Bird Safe NOVA’s Lights Out campaign is a voluntary program that involves turning off and/or blocking as many external and internal building lights at workplaces as possible at night to help prevent the death or injury of birds migrating through our area. The key times to reduce lighting to protect migratory birds are during peak migration, which in northern Virginia is from 11 PM to sunrise, March 15 through May 31 and September 1 through November 15. Bird Safe NOVA joins Lights Out programs throughout the United States that focus on turning off excess lights during the spring and fall bird migrations.

Restore the Night

2012 composite image published in Science News, June 10, 2016

Artificial lighting is increasing globally by about 10% per year. Light pollution -- unshielded, misaimed, too bright, too white, and on-all-night lights – causes birds to lose sleep, show signs of increased stress, and have less successful breeding seasons. It also disrupts the lives of other wildlife, from insects to mammals, as well as humans. The Bird Safe NOVA partnership will work to publicize the importance of reducing lighting and work with local organizations and governments to help reclaim the night sky.

Bird-Safe Buildings

More than one billion birds die from collisions with buildings in the United States each year. The birds mistake the reflection of trees and vegetation in a window for open space and fly into it. Among the human-made causes of bird deaths, only habitat loss and outdoor cats are responsible for killing more birds. 

Building in Reston, VA. Photo: Tom Blackburn

Houses and other buildings up to 3 stories high cause slightly less than half of the deaths, and buildings 4 to 11 stories high account for the rest. 

Bird Safe NOVA will publicize the ways homeowners can reduce the number of bird collisions with their windows and advocate for retrofitting commercial buildings and constructing new buildings with bird-friendly glass.

Bird Safe NOVA Program 

Join us at 7:30 PM on October 9 for an online kick-off program. Our speakers include Greg Butcher, the recently retired Migratory Species Coordinator for U.S. Forest Service’s International Programs; Christine Shepherd, the American Bird Conservancy’s Bird Collisions Campaign Director; and Laura Greenleaf, the volunteer leader of DarkSky Virginia. The program is free. You can register for the program here.

Fight Light Pollution to Help Conserve Our Natural Resources

Photo: Hooded Warbler, Adam Brandemihl/Audubon Photography Awards

Tom Blackburn

It’s late summer, and a young Hooded Warbler leaves its breeding grounds in northern Ohio for the first time, headed toward a winter habitat in Cuba. Flying at night with other songbirds, it approaches Reston, Virginia. Many of the flock head for Monticello Park in Alexandria, where they will find food, water, and shelter and can rest before the next leg of their flight. However, some birds, including the Hooded Warbler, are confused by the bright lights of Reston’s newly-constructed, tall buildings and head toward them. Some crash into the buildings and die. The Hooded Warbler escapes this fate, but it flies aimlessly around the lights, squandering the energy that is critical to continue its migration. 

Hooded Warbler, Adam Brandemihl/Audubon Photography Awards

The Hooded Warbler’s plight is not unique. All migrating birds are at risk from excessive outdoor lighting each spring and fall. Some cities, including Washington DC, have established programs such as Lights Out DC, which works to convince building owners and managers to adopt light abatement procedures for the sake of migrating birds. The DC program is patterned after similar programs in Chicago, Toronto, Boston, New York City, and Baltimore, among others. Areas such as Tysons and Reston don’t have any programs to reduce their lighting to protect migrating birds.

The harm caused by excessive lighting is not confined to migrating birds. The Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) database lists hundreds of scientific articles documenting the harm caused by light pollution on people, other mammals, birds, insects, and plants. Humans affected by light pollution suffer from sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, and other problems. Nocturnal birds’ and mammals’ sleep patterns are disrupted, leading to increased stress and lower rates of reproduction. Prey animals are less able to hide from predators when lights are bright at night. Sea turtles turn toward artificial light instead of heading to the sea, causing millions of them to die every year. Nocturnal pollinators are distracted from their normal activities. Even plants are harmed by nighttime lights, which affect when they leaf out and lose their leaves, disrupting photosynthesis. 

Light pollution is a year-round and growing problem. The Globe at Night Community Science Project found that light pollution is doubling every ten years. At the current pace, many people in northern Virginia may not be able to see any stars at all within 20 years. So, take action now to fight light pollution, protecting your health, the health of your community, and our natural resources.

Here’s how you can help reduce the harm caused by light pollution:

• Follow the Five Principles of Responsible Outdoor Lighting developed by DarkSky International and the Illuminating Engineering Society.  Outdoor lights should have a clear purpose; be directed only where needed; be no brighter than necessary; be used only when they are useful; and use warmer color bulbs instead of blue-white bulbs wherever possible. 

• Let your elected representatives know that light pollution and light trespass are harming our environment. Most of northern Virginia’s jurisdictions issued proclamations for International Dark Sky Week last spring. It’s time to follow up with substantive actions to reduce light pollution. For instance, the Town of Vienna, Virginia, is considering a draft Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance that, among other things, establishes standards for outdoor lighting. ASNV submitted comments on the draft, which you can read here. Other jurisdictions should take similar measures.

• Join DarkSky International,  the leading organization working to reduce light pollution. DarkSky International has just announced the formation of its DarkSky NOVA chapter.

• You can learn more about light pollution at Fairfax County Park Authority’s Dark Sky web page. 

• Stay alert for threats to dark skies. Light pollution can take many forms, from excessive lighting for local parks to all-night lighting on bike trails through our local woods. ASNV is working to help curb the harm from lighting our natural spaces. Contact us at advocacy@audubonva.org if you know of a light pollution issue we could address or if you’d like to help us.

Recovering Our Night Sky for People and Wildlife

Photo: La Palma, Canary Islands, May 2018, Copyright Babak Tafreshi, TWAN

Robin Duska

La Palma, Canary Islands, May 2018, Copyright Babak Tafreshi, TWAN

Remember the last time you saw the Milky Way?

Around 33 percent of the world’s population can’t see it. In North America, nearly 80 percent of us cannot.

“Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky,” open through 2025 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, introduces visitors not only to the serious problem of light pollution but also reminds us of the night sky’s wonders via gorgeous images of protected dark sky areas around the world and insights into human cultural connections across our shared sky.

“Milky Way, Starry Night # 2” by Margaret Nazon, Gwich’in Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories, Canada, 2021, Photo by Smithsonian

The “Who Needs the Dark?” section notes that many organisms evolved to live in darkness, just as many (including humans) evolved to be active during the day—and that we need a daily cycle of light and dark. “Light pollution is one of our fastest growing forms of environmental pollution” with the “main culprits” being “more lights aimed upward and more light being emitted per person.” Displays outline possible wide-scale ecosystem impacts for animals and plants when the light/dark cycle is disturbed and note that astronomical research is also being disrupted. It’s also estimated that about 30 percent of all U.S. outdoor lighting is wasted.

ASNV members may gravitate to a small exhibit featuring birds killed in window collisions. The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) and National Audubon Society chapters, often working with other organizations, have started Lights Out programs in North America to reduce deaths of birds diverted from their migration paths by bright nighttime light. No program exists in northern Virginia--the closest is City Wildlife’s Lights Out DC.

Victim of window collision, Photo Courtesy of DC Wildlife

Questions such as “how much light at night is enough?” challenge visitors. Many people are concerned that reducing outdoor lighting will reduce personal safety. Displays demonstrate how some lighting can actually reduce safety by making people and objects more difficult to discern.

This exhibition does not only warn, however--it also highlights success stories and notes that light pollution is a problem that can be solved. Displays include “Five Principles of Responsible Outdoor Lighting” solutions for common poor-lighting practices.

As a birder, I left wishing the exhibition informed visitors how to know when it is most important to turn off lights to protect migratory birds. BirdCast, a consortium of Cornell Lab of Ornithology and others, allows users to see a migration dashboard for their county and/or enter a town name here to see a forecast for the upcoming night and, for those near a Lights Out program area, to receive email alerts before high-migration nights.

If you are interested in helping ASNV start a Lights Out program in northern Virginia, please contact Tom Blackburn.

Turn Your Lights Out to Protect Fall Migrants

Photo: AdinaVoicu via Pixabay

Ines Nedelcovic and Robin Duska

Fall migration is expected to peak from September 15 to November 3 in the northern Virginia area. You can help protect the hundreds of millions of birds that are expected to fly over our area by turning off or dimming non-essential lighting during critical migration periods. Type your location’s name into BirdCast’s local migration alert tool to see how many birds are expected to fly over on any given night. If the tool indicates migration is expected to be “High,” please turn off any nonessential lights that would be visible to birds, including outdoor lights and, if you have access, those in tall office buildings. 

Turning off or dimming non-essential lighting during critical migration periods drastically reduces bird deaths, because artificial light can attract, confuse and disorient migrating birds by competing with the natural nighttime light from the stars and the moon by which the birds navigate. Disoriented birds exhaust themselves and also can collide with buildings. Hundreds of millions of birds die in collisions with buildings annually, including many species of high conservation concern. 

Lights Out efforts to attack this problem are underway in over 30 North American cities. Learn more about what you can do from this information from the International Dark Sky Association and National Audubon. More information on migration in your area is also available from the BirdCast Migration Dashboard. BirdCast applies weather surveillance radar to gather information on the numbers, flight directions, speeds, and altitudes of birds aloft in order to expand the understanding of migratory bird movement. 

Illustration reprinted with permission from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Learn more and see when bird migration is happening in your area, with forecasts and real-time bird migration maps at Birdcast.info.

Read our article on Lights Out here.