Petition asks Galveston to go dark for sake of birds
GALVESTON — An online petition by a U.S. citizen living in Argentina has helped spur international interest in reducing nighttime building lights on Galveston Island after the deaths of nearly 400 birds that flew into a lighted high-rise last month.
Andrew Milton, 37, said he began the petition on the Care2 site after reading news reports about the deaths of 395 birds that collided with the 23-story American National Building on May 3 after apparently being confused by its lights.
The petition asks Galveston Mayor Jim Yarbrough to help pass an ordinance that would require buildings to turn off their lights at night during the migration season, roughly March through May.
“I read it and realized what had happened and it seemed so unnecessary,” Milton said in a phone interview from Buenos Aires. “It seemed something that could easily be done by the mayor.”
As of Friday, the petition had more than 25,000 signatures, many from Texas, but most from other states and countries from every part of the globe, including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Germany.
“We need to take care of this problem,” wrote petition signer Jessica Z. from Texas. “Hundreds of birds should not have died.”
Yarbrough, who is aware of the petition, said the city is researching ways to protect birds.
“We are going to call some other cities that have done it,” Yarbrough said. “We’re going to look at it and
come up with something that works.”
The bird deaths that prompted Milton to launch a petition drive and Houston Audubon to create a warning system were an unusual event, said Christine Sheppard, director of the American Bird Conservancy’s glass collisions program.
Up to a billion birds die each year from collisions with glass windows, according to the conservancy, but the deaths in Galveston were unlikely to have been caused by birds trying to fly through a clear or mirrored window, Sheppard said.
The 395 birds that died likely were among thousands that would have begun their flight from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico across the Gulf of Mexico, because birds of all species tend to make the crossing at the same time if the weather is right, Sheppard said.
A storm struck before the birds reached Galveston Island, forcing them to search for better weather. It’s still unclear whether birds are attracted to light or confused by it, but studies have shown that light interferes with the birds’ ability to find their way by sensing the Earth’s magnetic pull. Once they were near the spotlights on the American National Building, they would have been mesmerized and unable to move away, she said. The high wind likely slammed them into the building and killed them.
Not just tall buildings
Lights on communication towers are the biggest threat to night-migrating birds, killing about 7 million each year, according to the American Bird Conservancy.
Although the deaths of so many birds in Galveston drew attention to the problem, Sheppard said it’s likely that just as many birds are being killed in Galveston on a given day, but individually when they become disoriented by light or fly into windows.
“The problem is definitely not limited to tall buildings,” Sheppard said. “Galveston itself is like a bright light.”
If Galveston enacts an ordinance, it will have to make the city go dark to be effective, she said.
“If there is an ordinance that does this citywide, that’s what is going to have an impact,” Sheppard said.
Minnesota requires all state-owned or -leased buildings to be dark during migration season, and about 20 cities have programs to reduce bird collisions, including Toronto, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Winston-Salem, N.C.
Houston Audubon enlisted Sheppard’s expertise and began working with Galveston after the bird deaths at the American National Building.
Richard Gibbons, Houston Audubon’s conservation director, said the organization is beginning a cooperative effort with Galveston businesses. They can sign up on the Houston Audubon website to receive warnings during migration season, when weather conditions would make it necessary for them to shut off their lights.
‘You get to save money’
Gibbons recently learned about the petition and said he’s not sure if the proposed regulation is a best first step.
“But it would be nice to get a resolution from the mayor to acknowledge this is the thing to do,” he said.
A few days after the 395 birds died, the American National Building consulted with Houston Audubon and agreed to shut off its lights during the migration season, said Bruce LePard, vice president of human resources at the company.
“We did some research online and discovered this is a pretty big problem, and a lot of cities are doing the same thing,” he said.
LePard said the insurance company is willing to cooperate, even though there have been no similar mass bird deaths since the building went up in 1972. He said turning off the outside lights causes no hardship.
“The reality is you get to save money,” he said. “Actually, the building looks better when it’s not lit.”
American National has volunteered use of its building for a meeting of Galveston officials and businessmen in August, LePard said.
“If it’s something as simple as turning off lights,” he said, “let’s do it and save the birds.”