Lights Out Texas
Lights Out Texas is a state-wide initiative that asks Texans to turn out or dim non-essential lights to support fall and spring birds during their migration, when hundreds of millions of birds will be passing through the state.
Turning off non-essential lights helps prevent bird casualties as birds can become disoriented by bright artificial lights and skyglow, often causing them to collide with buildings or windows. While lights can throw birds off their migration paths, bird fatalities are more directly caused by the amount of energy the birds waste flying around and calling out in confusion. The exhaustion can then leave them vulnerable to other urban threats.
Bird populations in the United States have been declining rapidly, with 1 out of every 4 birds lost since 1970. Birds are essential to our planet’s ecology because they provide ecosystem services, act as benchmarks for environmental health, increase livability, act as drivers for local economies through nature tourism, and connect people of all ages and abilities to the natural world.
BBCA is participating as the regional coordinator for Lights Out Texas in the Big Bend. During fall and spring migration you can pickup Bird Care Packages available at area libraries, which help our feathered friends with wildflower seeds that you can plant to keep the birds coming back year after year.
How You Can Help
Turn off all non-essential nighttime lighting on buildings and other structures from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. during peak migration.
During peak migration, put out bird seed and water to help birds on their way. This is especially important in the Big Bend Region, which has been experiencing severe to exceptional drought conditions; birds will have fewer food sources along their path—food and water can help sustain them on their journey.
About Lights Out Texas
The Lights Out Texas program was originally launched in spring of 2020 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and BirdCast, in partnership with local Texas partners Houston Audubon, the Dallas Zoo, and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Beginning in fall of 2020, Texan by Nature collaborated with these organizations and supporting organizations to coordinate the expansion of Lights Out Texas at the statewide level, and to standardize messaging, communication, and volunteer efforts across all Texas organizations. Since fall of 2022, Audubon Texas has assumed the role of statewide coordination, in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and BirdCast.
Press
Big Bend Sentinel, “Experts offer tips for how to help birds during fall migration season” by Mary Cantrell. September 14, 2022.