Houston Audubon asks Houstonians to turn lights off for fall migration – Houston Public Media

Houston Audubon is asking Houstonians to turn off their porch lights at night for the next few months, just until the billions of birds expected to fly over Houston this fall make it to central and south America safely.

But every year, several millions of birds don't make it.

They use a combination of an internal compass and then also the stars," said Pete Deichmann with Houston Audubon. "So at night when we have extremely bright lights throughout our cities and urban environments, it is very distracting."

The organization launched its Lights Out for Birds initiative recently, which has gotten more than 30 Houston businesses to pledge to turn their lights off at night, many including large skyscrapers in downtown.

"Birds don't necessarily see an obstacle when they see a window, they see the reflection of habitat or the sky, and they can't comprehend that," said Deichmann. "So it turns into a collision which can injure the birds."

The Audubon's initiative began in 2017 after a flock of birds collided with a Galveston highrise. In one night, more than 400 birds hit the building and died.

Passerines are the most common type of bird that dies in Houston by colliding with a window, Deichmann said.

Although it's important to get skyscrapers to turn off their lights, he said it's just as important for homeowners to hit the off switch as well. Around half of the birds that die from collisions are hitting windows of homes.

Countless species will be migrating south for a warmer winter, the fall migration starts in August and ends at the end of November. The peak months are September and October.