New York buildings to go dark during bird migration season
Deadlier than Glen Close with a kitchen knife, light's 'fatal attraction' kills millions of birds each year.
Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 05:20 PM
State agencies will also be encouraged ? but not required ? to draw blinds and turn off non-essential interior lights during these time frames.
Cuomo, who calls the initiative "a simple step to help protect these migrating birds that make their home in New York?s forest, lakes and rivers," isn?t the first governor to embrace the National Audubon Society?s Lights Out practices. NY Audubon notes that lawmakers in Minnesota, Massachusetts and Michigan have all passed bills that aim to eliminate light pollution during peak migration months.
There are also numerous citywide efforts to protect migrating birds from fatal light attraction in cities such as Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, San Francisco and Toronto.
Deadlier than Glen Close with a kitchen knife, light's 'fatal attraction' kills millions of birds each year.
Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 05:20 PM
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To help ensure that New York City and the entirety of the Empire State is a hospitable place for migrating birds, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced a new initiative that aims to curb bird-deadly light pollution. The scheme, the New York Lights Out Initiative, requires all state owned- or managed buildings throughout New York to completely turn off any non-essential exterior lights from 11:00 pm through dawn during peak migration season: April 15 through May 31 and then again from August 15 through November 15.State agencies will also be encouraged ? but not required ? to draw blinds and turn off non-essential interior lights during these time frames.
Cuomo, who calls the initiative "a simple step to help protect these migrating birds that make their home in New York?s forest, lakes and rivers," isn?t the first governor to embrace the National Audubon Society?s Lights Out practices. NY Audubon notes that lawmakers in Minnesota, Massachusetts and Michigan have all passed bills that aim to eliminate light pollution during peak migration months.
There are also numerous citywide efforts to protect migrating birds from fatal light attraction in cities such as Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, San Francisco and Toronto.
New York is one of the top bird-watching destinations in the northeast.