Wildlife

Wild Bird Migration and Light Pollution

Artificial light at night disrupts bird migration, causing exhaustion, collision, and death.

Key Facts

Billions of migratory birds are affected by light pollution across flyways
Bright urban lights cause birds to circle buildings until exhaustion
The Empire State Building and other lit buildings attract and disorient migrants
Lights Out programmes in major cities have reduced bird deaths significantly

Welfare Considerations

Birds trapped in lit urban environments circle until exhausted and crash into buildings. Those arriving in cities instead of appropriate habitat are misoriented and waste energy that cannot be replaced during migration. The suffering of individual birds from light-induced disorientation and building strikes is preventable and caused directly by human lighting choices.

What You Can Do

Turn off non-essential lights during peak migration nights (spring and autumn)
Support Lights Out campaigns in your city
Advocate for bird-safe lighting ordinances in your municipality
Participate in dead bird count surveys to quantify building strike mortality