Focus at Four: College Station to participate in “Lights Out, Texas!” to help migratory birds
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – During the Aug. 10 city council meeting College Station Mayor John Nichols proclaimed the spring and fall migration periods as Lights Out Nights in the city.
The initiative is championed by volunteers from the Conservation Advisory Group, including Texas A&M Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections, Rio Brazos Audubon Society, Brazos Valley Texas Master Naturalists, Post Oak Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, College Station Parks & Recreation Department, College Station Public Works Department, Southside Historic Community, Texas A&M Forest Service, and current students and faculty of Texas A&M University.
Heather Prestridge, curator for Texas A&M Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections, stopped by First News at Four to explain how the movement began, what it’s about and how we can help migratory birds by dimming or turning off the lights.
“A lot of people don’t realize that birds migrate at night and that they navigate using the moon and stars,” Prestridge said. “So when we have lights on in buildings, especially tall buildings at night, the birds just become disoriented.”
The Lights Out Texas movement began after a major collision event in Galveston in 2017.
“One big insurance company building had its lights on it, which is this beacon and one in three migratory birds comes through Texas,” Prestridge explained. “So when this big strike happened, it made national news.”
Several Audubon societies, nature groups, and other conservation groups signed on to be part of the solution.
Prestridge said individuals turning off house lights or getting different lighting can have an impact, but the best way to start helping migratory birds is to have conversations with building managers and owners to see if there are treatments to help reduce glare on windows, which will reduce the chance of strikes.
The Texas A&M Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections has a display up now through Sept. 13 at the Memorial Student Center that highlights the Lights Out movement.
