The City of Greensboro is once again asking residents and businesses to help migrating birds by switching off their lights at night.
The voluntary “Lights Out” program, first launched locally in 2022, is in effect this fall from Sept. 10 through Nov. 30 – the peak season when millions of birds make their way south.
The idea is simple: Between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., building managers, businesses and homeowners are encouraged to turn off or block non-essential exterior and interior lighting. City officials say taking the step not only conserves energy and reduces light pollution but also helps protect vulnerable bird populations.
According to a 2024 study published in the Public Library of Science, between 365 million and 1 billion birds die in the United States each year due to collisions with buildings. Those collisions affect more than 50 avian families and hundreds of species – and they don’t just happen in downtown high-rises. Homes in rural areas can also pose a threat when lights are left on overnight.
Chief Sustainability Officer Dr. S. Shree Dorestant said that Greensboro’s participation is part of a larger environmental commitment. “Managing how we use lighting is a powerful tool for sustainability — reducing light pollution, protecting birds, and promoting better environmental health,” she said in the plea to help our feathered friends.
The city has already reduced its own non-essential light usage in municipal buildings, citing both sustainability goals in the GSO2040 Comprehensive Plan and preparations for a LEED for Cities recertification in 2026. Greensboro officials have also pointed to the fact that more than 50 U.S. cities – including New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem – have adopted similar Lights Out campaigns.
Research in other cities shows these programs make a measurable difference. Bright nighttime lights can confuse migrating birds, causing them to circle until they’re exhausted or they strike windows. Shielding or switching off the lights reduces the number of deadly collisions.
The local program runs twice a year – March 15 to May 31 in the spring and Sept. 10 to Nov. 30 in the fall.
While voluntary, the program depends a lot on community buy-in. Businesses and residents can sign a pledge through the T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society to certify their properties as safe passage zones for migrating birds.
For more information or to take the pledge, you can visit www.tgpearsonaudubon.org/lights-out.
Deportation is the next step. If he comes back, put him in prison for the rest of his life.
Whey are we deporting birds?
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Love the headline !
And yes, it’s easy enough to turn off the lights to help the geese find their way, if you can.
Find there way back to Canada. Humans get dumber by the minute.
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Yes, some can’t even differentiate between there and their…
add ‘thar’ over thar
On the main, birds navigate by instinct. How else could they migrant from one continent to another? Butterflies & Hummingbirds migrate a great distance.
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Somehow I can always find a cozy little bar as I drive 30,000 miles a year in my business.
Must be instinct.
‘as you drive’ or as you are driven out ?
Boy, you get around. Do you watch birds while driving, or just bugs and other pests?
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I watch the traffic and extend my sightlines as far as possible. Observation and anticipation are the keys to safe driving – not slow driving (aka obeying Speed Limits).
.
PS
No accidents in 40 years in the US – despite being a chronic “speeder”.
What does that tell you?
me too now i peed on bike & see no tickets for anything – i find $$ on the street. ~ $125 to date. hundreds of sockets & auto tools !
You have been veddy lucky. Your time awaits ….
you’re like me !
The criminals are gonna love this. I keep my outdoor light on to keep me safe. The birds have been doing this successfully for years. It’s just a feel good move.
You beat me to it Mary Edwards. Yes, burglars and other thugs love dark places. They tend to operate more freely. The birds will be just fine.
it gives some overcompensated burrocrat a warm fuzzy feeling.
I have never seen any “confused” birds in my neighborhood. I have seen a few suspicious characters who may attempt break-ins if not for my dusk to dawn SECURITY LIGHTS.
A Chief Sustainability Officer. Pray tell, what do they do? What is their annual salary that my tax dollars are used for? Who dreamed up this position? Asking for another confused and abused tax payer.
ditto
they ‘sustain’ their affluence.
Interesting… Of course seeing some empirical data would help their argument. Are there actual bird counts?
Many birds navigate along the earth’s magnetic flux lines; have they considered the current magnetic pole shift along with a general weakening of the magnetic field as a contributing factor?
This sounds like one of the “nudges” the globalists are using to bring the hoi-polloi into line.
Are we pretending that they just made this up?
Here is a quick link to an article that includes an example of one of the numerous studies (including data).
https://designlights.org/news-events/news/light-pollution-and-migrating-birds-a-conservation-scientist-weighs-in/?hl=en-US#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMonitoring%20efforts%20at%20Chicago's%20McCormick,building%20seeing%20increased%20collision%20rates.%E2%80%9D
Not at all; it would be nice if The Rhino Times would include some data, as you did
Good information. However, it would apply mainly to large cities with a lot of tall buildings. Not so much to small cities like Greensboro.
yes, there are actual bird counts many years ago i was rock climbing with my daughter @ the base of the tower on moores’ wall hanging rock park where a bunch of rangers with an ornithologist were counting the hundreds of migrating birds/species. glad i had that permit in my pocket because they asked !
You people would be dying of thirst and complain the ice water is too cold.
You do know that you don’t have to read our comments. It’s called free will
is this forum addicting ? just to me ? their are addictive behaviors ? surely ? !