The City of Greensboro, the Audubon Society and some of the area’s partnering businesses are coming together for an interesting cause: To make it easier for birds to fly south for the winter.
The joint effort, called the “Lights Out” program, is in effect twice each year. It takes place every spring – from March 15 to May 31 – and again each fall, when it runs from September 10 to November 30.
It’s a voluntary program that asks the management of tall buildings and large facilities in Greensboro to turn off – or block – as many exterior and interior lights in their buildings as possible from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The program dates are the two peak migration seasons for birds. The program is also meant to reduce local light pollution in general, which helps residents enjoy the night sky and also saves electricity.
Those who wish to participate can learn more about the program at https://www.tgpearsonaudubon.org/lights-out and they can also sign the pledge to participate in the Lights Out program for bird protection.
According to an announcement from the city requesting compliance, “A 2014 study by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Smithsonian Institution estimated that between 365 and 988 million birds are killed annually by building collisions in the US. These deaths are believed to be one of the factors responsible for a 29 percent decline in North American bird populations since 1970…During migration, intense lights on and inside buildings can cause birds to collide with windows or walls, or cause them to circle in confusion, leaving them weak and exhausted when they land. Research in other cities with ‘Lights Out’ programs determined that turning off and shielding these lights at night has reduced bird collisions.”
More than 50 other US cities have already implemented their own Lights Out programs, including New York City, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington DC, Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem.
Interim Greensboro City Manager Chris Wilson said the program is very Earth-friendly.
“Our proactivity with this issue hopefully has also – and will continue to – save the lives of migrating birds and reduce light pollution in the Greensboro sky, especially with the help of our local business partners. Anything we can do to help Planet Earth.”
Greensboro has previously engaged in the practice of switching off non-critical lights at night in city government buildings in order to implement the city’s long-term GSO2040 Comprehensive Plan goals for sustainability and energy conservation.
As Leftist policies make power exorbitantly costly, I turn off lights anyway.
My Duke Energy monthly bill has become more like a car payment.
Thanks Scott! I had to re-read as I thought this was describing Greensboro City Council.
The migratory wildlife are being increasingly influenced by the both the weakening and shift of the magnetic poles. This has affected not only birds but migratory sealife like fish and whales. That is one of the reasons the migration of the monarch butterfly has been disrupted or the swallows to Capistrano. Greensboro used to be on the flyway for migrating goldfinches but over the years it has shifted and rarely do I see a goldfinch locally.
I’d enjoy the program to see the stars, Milky Way, and meteors that used to be visible in the more rural areas of the County before there was so much growth. I miss seeing the night sky and many nighttime events we used to observe, but new neighborhoods with streetlights, grocery stores, and schools have ruined the dark sky.
It would be nice to have a few nights a week where we left our lights off so we could see these special events, like the ones coming up at the end of the month and first of October. But if we have to bribe people with birds, it’s cool with me.
Great idea, this will not only help the birds, humans can benefit too. I know what it feels like to suffer from Dirty Electricity (any unnecessary electricity). I have a condition called EMHS (Electromagnet Hyper Sensitivity), this condition is very debilitating. It zaps my energy and causes all kinds of illnesses. I always turn off unnecessary lights. I know if more people comply to turning off lights that are not needed, everyone and every bird will be better off. Thank you for this article.