I hope to see cities and citizens across our state take up the challenge and issue their own lights out proclamations, just like Dallas and Dripping Springs did last fall. One in every three birds migrating through the U.S. So join me in the statewide effort to protect our birds. From flight, to navigation, to noise reduction, birds’ example has been paramount to human progress. Birds help our economy, playing a major role in the ecotourism industry that boosts the United States by more than $100 billion annually. They maintain diverse ecosystems by spreading seeds through their droppings. They pollinate about 5% of the plants we use for food and medicine each year. Bird collisions can occur at any point during the full spring migration March 1 to June 15, but experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology say that the window of April 19 to May 7, when half of the total spring bird migration traffic passes through our state, is most important.īirds control pests, eating 400 million to 500 million tons of insects annually.
Taking action now is vital because every spring and fall, between a third and a quarter of all birds migrating at night through the United States travel through Texas. In 2017, nearly 400 migrating songbirds were killed in a single night at a brightly lit skyscraper in Galveston, prompting the building owner, American National Insurance Co., to collaborate with Houston Audubon and become one of the first commercial buildings in Texas to adjust its night lighting to protect birds. Large numbers of light-related collisions have been documented in cities across the country for decades, including here in Texas. The light emanating from cities like Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston attracts and disorients birds, leaving them confused and vulnerable. Light pollution is a growing and underrecognized threat to birds. And as an added bonus, turning off nonessential lights also saves energy for cities, local businesses and homeowners. Each night, each light turned out helps save migrating birds. During Texas’ peak spring bird migration period April 19 to May 7, Texans should turn off all nonessential lights from 11 p.m. Every Texan can participate in protecting our feathered friends by simply turning off their lights at night.
But the good news is, there’s an easy fix.
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