An annual campaign by the Audubon Society and Texas Parks and Wildlife is underway to protect most North American birds that migrate at night.
City lights often disorient birds and leave them vulnerable to threats such as collisions. In 2017, after discovering the bodies of more than 400 birds that had slammed into a Galveston skyscraper, the American National Insurance Company and Houston Audubon launched the first “Lights Out” initiative in Texas.
The critical spring peak migration period is approximately April 22 through May 12, and the full spring migration ends June 15. The campaign urges everyone to turn off non-essential lights from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., avoid using landscape lighting, and close blinds at night. Essential lights, such as security, should be aimed downward and away from trees or the sky.
For more information, visit https://tx.audubon.org/urbanconservation/lights-out-texas or texanbynature.org/projects/lights-out-texas/
