FLAP analyzed sixteen major towers that participated in the program and found, like those in Chicago after them, that turning off the lights did indeed have a measurable influence on bird mortality. Michael Mesure, from FLAP, pointed out that many building managers supported the effort because they get the additional benefit of reduced energy bills. In 1996, the Bird Friendly Building Program began to educate building managers on reducing nighttime lighting to save bird lives. In fact, Chicago modeled its program on FLAP, Toronto’s aptly named Fatal Light Awareness Program, which began back in 1993. ![]() Toronto, Canada also has efforts underway to help nocturnal migrants. They found that when the lights were off, bird deaths were reduced by over 80 percent, from 1,297 during the nights the windows were lit compared with only 192 when the lights were off or shades were drawn. When Dave Williard, the collection manger at the museum, noticed that more birds seemed to be dying when the lights were on, they started keeping track. At one point, the McCormick Place building managers began to turn off lights when the exhibition hall was not being used. Since 1978, Field Museum scientists have been collecting dead birds-“ a source of new specimens that didn’t require that we kill the birds,” says Stotz-at the McCormick Place building, a large lake-front convention center. “This study actually came about as a happenstance,” remarks Doug Stotz, a conservation ecologist and ornithologist at the museum. Scientists at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago have been able to count the number of avian lives saved by turning out the lights at one Chicago building. Friedland, courtesy New York City Audubon Society. Inventory of bird fatalities following early morning survey by New York City Audubon Society members in 2000. We could still hear the birds flying, but they made it safely over the buildings that night.” So wrote Robbie Hunsinger, of the Bird Collision Monitor and Rescue Project. The next night, the lights were out and the drop in fatalities and injuries was amazing-we guess at an 80 percent drop. We had a heavy night of migration and there were birds everywhere with few survivors. One night “here was a tragic mix up and the lights did not go out on schedule. There is substantial anecdotal evidence that the program helps. The program was started in the fall of 2000 and has won the support of almost all of the major skyscrapers in Chicago. They also encourage high-rise residents to draw their shades or dim interior lights late in the evening. The program encourages building managers to dim or turn off decorative lighting late at night and to minimize the use of bright interior lights during migration season. The City of Chicago’s Department of the Environment estimates that tens of thousands of birds are killed from nighttime lights each season.Ĭhicago, through its “Lights Out” program, was one of the first U.S. “I’ve spoken with one building manager who said some nights birds were picked up by the shovelful from the roof,” says Judy Pollock, the Bird Conservation Project Manager at the Chicago Audubon Society. There are some Chicago residents who understand the hazards facing migratory birds first hand. “A person will see one dead bird here, one bird there. ![]() ![]() “The problem is easy to overlook because you don’t see it in the aggregate,” she continues. From there, “birds can fly into glass windows as they fly toward a reflection or even a planter inside the building,” explains Rebekah Creshkoff of the New York City Audubon Society. Sometimes they crash into the lit building other times, decorative lights disorient the birds and cause them to circle around and around, finally settling exhausted in a street tree or bush at daybreak. When they are flying near buildings, the nighttime lights can confuse the birds. Many birds, like the song sparrow that is a common casualty in Chicago, are nocturnal migrants, meaning they travel at night. These migratory birds can cover thousands of miles each season. Twice a year, around five million birds, representing about 250 species, fly through Chicago. ![]() “Part of the building’s appeal is its prominence in the nighttime skyline.” Yet 311 South Wacker turns off its lights-along with many other prominent Chicago buildings, including the John Hancock Building and the Sears Tower-when migratory birds make their way through the Chicago area. “Light is part of the building’s architecture,” says Roy Endsley, the building manager at 311 South Wacker in Chicago.
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