'The purpose of collecting birds is to have proof that there is a problem,' Lewis explained. The birds are catalogued, frozen and photographed. This year, volunteers have collected almost 400 birds in the small area of Washington they patrol. 'When they had a large campaign in Chicago to get buildings to turn off lights, the bird mortality was reduced by 80 percent there,' said Lewis. cities have seen similar results, said Ann Lewis, president of City Wildlife, which monitors dead birds through the Lights Out DC program. After one federal office building with many large glass windows agreed to their request, volunteers saw a two-thirds reduction in the number of bird fatalities there. Now in its fifth year, the campaign is having some success. The Lights Out DC campaign urges building owners to switch off unnecessary lights at night during peak migration periods in the spring and fall. There is also speculation that they navigate using the stars,' said Fuisz. There is less thermal upheaval so that they can fly more easily. 'There is a lot of advantages flying at night, less predators. And they are attracted to the lights,' said Fuisz.įuisz explained that the birds most likely to be confused by the light are small songbirds that migrate after dark. Because the bird sees the plant in the building, it doesn’t perceive the glass and runs into the windows.

'Large expanses of glass that are lit at night that have plants inside the building.

Lisbeth Fuisz, a director of the Lights Out DC campaign, said the nation's capital has many buildings that pose a danger to migrating birds. They skirt around the edges of buildings, collecting fallen birds before they are eaten by predators or swept away by cleaning crews. Volunteers, mostly amateur birders, travel a 6-kilometer route around downtown Washington, D.C., every day before dawn during migratory seasons. In response, a growing movement to save birds from such fatal collisions has been making a difference in major U.S. Experts estimate that more than 100 million migrating birds die each year in North America when they become confused by artificial lights at night and fly into the glass. Illuminated buildings, especially ones with a lot of glass windows, are deadly for birds.

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