Fact: Millions of birds die every year in building collisions.

Why: Tall buildings and their lights pose a serious threat to migrating birds. The feat of migration is already a dangerous one with the natural hazards due to weather, predators, and food scarcity. Birds are exhausted and hungry and yet humans have created tall obstacles to complicate an already difficult journey.

Birds use a variety of different cues to navigate their migration route, including the pattern of the stars, topographic features, earth's magnetic fields, and the location of the setting sun. If any of these cues are disrupted or unclear, for example during cloudy weather, the birds will have difficulty staying on their path. The lights of tall buildings and radio towers only contribute to this confusion. The lights will often overwhelm natural cues and disorient the birds. These confused birds will then circle the lighted structures, not because they are attracted to the light, but because they are following an erroneous and obscure cue. Blinking lights, which often adorn radio towers, and bad weather only further contribute to the problem. Eventually many of these birds will collide with the building, with each other, or will drop from exhaustion.

This problem is increasing as more and more highrise buildings are constructed. The now popular glass skyscrapers, found brilliantly lit at night, are augmenting the dangers.

Not all birds die from the collisions. Some will only be stunned with minor injuries, but often these dazed birds will fall prey to predators, cats and other birds, lurking on city streets. Many will panic upon finding themselves in the midst of a busy, morning, urban setting.

Another related danger to nightflying migrants are the broadcast radio towers which may stand 200-2000 feet into the night sky. There are around 75,000 towers currently built in the United States and with the current progress of Internet and satellite technology another 5000 to be added every year. Each of these towers may kill hundreds to thousands of birds in a single migratory season. Add lights and bad weather to the scenario and the death rate grows even higher.

What You Can Do:

• Turn off all lights during the peak migration seasons in fall and spring
• Write letters to the owners of tall skyscrapers requesting that lights be turned off at night during peak migration periods.
• If you find a stunned bird, carefully place it upright inside a brown paper bag and transport it to a safe area where it can recover before resuming it's journey.

Other Useful Web Sites:
Fatal Light Awareness Program
http://www.flap.org

Towerkills
http://www.towerkill.com