By Gabriel Durham, Bird-Friendly Communities Program Manager
Here at Houston Audubon, when we talk about going “Lights Out,” we keep it pretty bird focused. Keeping your exterior lights out at night is an essential step to reducing bird mortality during migration and generally improving the quality of avian life at night. However, going “Lights Out” links up with another movement known as “Dark Skies.”
A parallel movement, Dark Skies also aims to keep lights out, or at least limited, at night. Going beyond birds, this movement’s broader focus touches on the health of wildlife and even human safety and wellbeing. One of our early Lights Out for Birds pledges was the George Observatory housed in Brazos Bend State Park, who came to us initially due to this overlap with the Dark Skies movement. As you might imagine, dark skies are important for stargazing, so the pledge was an easy action to work into their ongoing efforts.
Hannah Lange, Program and Volunteer Manager at George Observatory, answered a few questions about how they got started with Lights Out Houston and how keeping the area around them dark extends benefits beyond reducing bird collisions.
How did you get started with Lights Out for Birds?
As Program Manager of the George Observatory, while doing research for an article about Lights Out to see the Night Sky for our newsletter, I happened across the Lights Out for Birds program. I then partnered with a coworker, Lijin Zheng, who has a doctorate in avian biology, and we co-wrote an article about Lights Out for Birds as well as to see the stars. We then partnered with Lights Out for Wildlife as we are located within Brazos Bend State Park.
What are the strategies you use at the observatory to be bird-friendly and support dark skies?
We have posted stickers and posters on the windows, as well as adhering one-way film so that birds do not run into the floor-to-ceiling-length windows at our entrances in the foyer. At night time, we turn on only red lights on the deck and path. Red light is long wavelength, so that one is able to see the ground and sky charts, while one’s pupils stay open to see stars and other dim celestial objects in the night sky. It’s a misconception that more light equals safety, as unfortunately light glare (with high-energy wavelengths of light and lights aiming up or outward instead of down at the ground) causes increased car accidents and pedestrian fatalities. It also causes birds to stray from migratory paths and collide with buildings, leading to injury and death. This is supported by recent research performed by Rice University.
How does this further support the habitat conservation goals of the park surrounding you?
Texas State Parks employ the Lights Out for Wildlife program, and we partner with them for Lights Out to see the Night Sky. We agree on lighting solutions, such as either having no lights on at all during bird migration season or keeping lights aimed down or on motion detectors. Other solutions include using amber lighting instead of blue-white LEDs, and using red light flashlights or headlamps to go on night hikes. All of this enables wildlife to have a more natural habitat and life cycle. It affects human health and circadian rhythms, too!
What are some ways you can tell your strategies are benefiting the habitat around you?
We definitely see many owls, birds of all varieties, hear more frog symphonies, see more deer, armadillos, raccoons, bobcats, – and even fireflies – which are becoming more and more rare.
If you would like to learn more about activities at the George Observatory, visit https://george.hmns.org/
If you would like more information on Lights Out for Birds, or are interested in taking a Lights Out for Birds pledge yourself, visit https://houstonaudubon.org/lightsout
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