Spring is here, and the birds are singing about it. The American Bird Conservancy says that about 200 kinds of birds fly to North America during this very important migration, which lasts from about mid-March to mid-May.
“It’s a lot of birds,” said Richard Gibbons, the Manager of the Gulf Conservation Program for the American Bird Conservancy.
Migratory Birds Through Houston
“It could be anywhere from a million birds a night to peak migration,” he said. As of Friday, that’s exactly where we are. He said that many birds fly up through Central America but that where they go is just as important as when they go.
“They fly at night because they use Polaris the north star to navigate,” says Gibbons.
There is, however, one big problem with this timing.
“Bright lights tend to attract these, you know, these migratory birds. And when those birds are brought closer into these lights, then they’re exposed to additional threats, things like panes of glass,” said Gibbons.
When, in 2017, about 400 birds flew into a building in Galveston and died. The event led to a “Lights Out” campaign in Houston, which asked people to turn off lights that weren’t needed. A study from 2014 says that anywhere from 365 million to 1 billion birds die every year in the U.S. because they hit windows.
On its website, the American Bird Conservancy gives tips for keeping birds safe while they travel at night. Here are some tips to keep birds safe as they travel at night:
Here’s how you can follow where they go:
https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-TX-201
Stephanie Polk oversees League City’s Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Last year, League City started turning off more lights. Also, check out Texas Wildlife Officials Save Alligator From Decades-long Captivity In Backyard.
“It’s a very simple thing that we can do, all you do is turn off your lights, and it saves you energy and says you all that good stuff,” said Polk.
We have given a tweet about Migratory Birds Through Houston. You can see below:
The city of Houston is issuing a “Lights Out” tonight because of an expected 23,000 migratory birds flying through. I’ve been around for a very long time and never heard of something like that. They say that excessive night lights upset the birds.
— Roger Thies (@ThiesRoger) September 12, 2022
Since the pandemic started, League City has made events and programs that let people learn more about birds in a fun way. You must also see that Two Panola County Deputies were Injured In Texas 315 Crash.
“We created just some basic materials, where to go birding, what to look for, what to how to how to identify birds,” Polk said.
It’s been trendy. “More than 1,000 people signed up for our online classes on how to burn,” Polk said. On the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau website, you can find out more about how to go “birding” in League City. We don’t know how many lights have been turned off yet, but it’s clear that even a small amount of help can go a long way for the birds.
“They may have just flown 6000 miles from South America,” Gibbons says. “We’re lucky. We get one of the best places in North America for birds.”
