New York dims its lights for birds

Birds flock over Central Park. (Courtesy: iStockphoto/giovanni1232)

By James Dacey

It’s been a great week for birds – or at least those flying over the state of New York – after state governor Andrew Cuomo pledged to create safer migration routes for our feathered friends. All state buildings will now have to comply with a national US initiative that seeks to curb levels of light pollution, which can disorient birds and lead to huge numbers of avian deaths by “fatal light attraction”.

Many species of bird rely on the light from star constellations to help them navigate during spring and autumn migrations. Unfortunately, artificial light sources can throw the animals off course, and light reflected from glass can cause the birds to smack into windows, walls, floodlights and other hard surfaces. It is estimated that as many as a billion birds succumb to this cruel end each year in the US alone, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

New York is a particular hot spot for bird crashes given its high and expansive urban areas and the fact that it lies on the migration route known as the Atlantic Flyway. Many species of shore birds and songbirds make biannual voyages along this path, which stretches from eastern Canada down to Mexico and the Caribbean.

Acknowledging that something needs to be done about the issue, Cuomo has signed up to the New York State Lights Out Initiative – one of a series of state programmes promoted by Audubon, a US ecological society. All state-owned and -managed buildings will now have to turn off non-essential outdoor lighting from 11.00 p.m. to dawn during the times of peak bird migration: from 15 April to 31 May and 15 August to 15 November.

In the announcement on Monday, Cuomo also launched I Love NY Birding, a new website with information about birds in New York state and where to see them. “This is a simple step to help protect these migrating birds that make their home in New York’s forests, lakes and rivers,” he said.

This latest pledge appears to be part of an ongoing drive to address light-pollution issues in New York state. It follows recent legislation (that takes effect in December) that sees limits and restrictions on the types of lighting used on state-managed land to make lighting more efficient and to reduce the amount of glare.

Particularly outspoken among the campaigners for these changes are astronomers, who want to see a reduction in the amount of wasted light directed upwards to the skies, which obscures their view of the stars. The new legislation and the quest for dark skies in New York are highlighted in this recent short film produced for us by New York-based filmmakers Lucina Melesio and Aman Azhar. The short documentary brings a personal story to the Dark Skies Awareness campaign by following the amateur astronomer Irene Pease as she struggles to find a patch of darkness amid the dazzling lights of the Big Apple.

The campaign for dark skies is also one of the key themes of the International Year of Light (IYL 2015). See the IYL 2015 website for information about the range of initiatives taking place this year relating to light in the built environment. Also, check out our free-to-read digital collection of 10 of the best Physics World features related to the science and technology of light.