Lights Out Buffalo Niagara
"Lights Out New York" is a New York State Policy policy that directs State-owned and managed buildings to turn off non-essential outdoor lighting from 11 p.m. to dawn during the spring migration April 15 through May 31 and during the peak fall migration, August 15 through November 15. We encourage the City of Buffalo, Erie County and other municipalities in the region to adopt similar policies.
The US Department of Agriculture in 2024 estimated that 500 million to a billion birds annually in the US are killed by building collisions. Bright lights and buildings design that do not consider flying bird habitat are the reason
Times Beach Nature Preserve located along the Buffalo Waterfront and adjacent to downtown Buffalo, is critical habitat for many species of migrating birds. Times Beach Nature Preserve is the Western Gateway to the Niagara River Corridor Globally Significant Important Bird And Biodiversity Area. Lights on buildings, roadways, and other structures are bird killers. In addition, dense fog along the shoreline, makes the bird strike equation much worse. We urge the City of Buffalo, Erie County, and other municipalities along the Niagara River Strait to adopt lights out policies similar to the State of New York's.
Read more below.
Times Beach Nature Preserve located along the Buffalo Waterfront and adjacent to downtown Buffalo, is critical habitat for many species of migrating birds. Times Beach Nature Preserve is the Western Gateway to the Niagara River Corridor Globally Significant Important Bird And Biodiversity Area. Lights on buildings, roadways, and other structures are bird killers. In addition, dense fog along the shoreline, makes the bird strike equation much worse. We urge the City of Buffalo, Erie County, and other municipalities along the Niagara River Strait to adopt lights out policies similar to the State of New York's.
Read more below.
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WNYEA Lights Out Press Advisory
Topic: Bird Migration and Conservation in the Niagara River Corridor
www.wnyea.org
April 15, 2025
Contacts:
Jay Burney: email: [email protected] (WNYEA)
John Whitney: email: [email protected] (WNYEA)
Thanks to the Western New York Environmental Alliance, the Buffalo Ornithological Society, the Western New York Young Birders Club, and the Spark Bird Project for co-sponsoring this media advisory.
April and May are the peak of Spring bird migration season in Western New York. This is a time to enjoy and celebrate the beauty and importance of returning songbirds -including shorebirds and neotropical warblers. Many of these birds are returning to the Niagara region and continuing further north. They are coming from South and Central America, the Caribbean, and coastal areas. They travel through here, stop briefly to rest and feed, or stay to breed and nest before they embark on the fall migration in September-November when they migrate to the south. Many species of migrating birds depend on the natural night sky including the stars to successfully navigate.
Unfortunately bright light pollution emanating from poorly located buildings and other tall structures cause birds to become disoriented and lethally collide with the structures. This is a phenomenon known as Fatal Light Attraction. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this phenomenon has led to the deaths of an estimated 500 million to a billion birds annually in the United States. Turning lights out during these critical overnight migration periods is a proven life-saver for birds.
New York State has adopted a policy called “Lights Out New York.” Lights Out directs State-owned and managed buildings to turn off non-essential outdoor lighting from 11 p.m. to dawn during the spring migration April 15 through May 31 and during the peak fall migration, August 15 through November 15. State agencies will also be encouraged to draw blinds, when possible, and turn off non-essential indoor lighting during Lights Out times. In addition to benefiting migrating birds, Lights Out promotes sustainability and provides cost-savings to the State. This policy should be extended to all public and private buildings, particularly those in major migration corridors like the Niagara River Globally Significant important Bird Area which is also part of the Atlantic Flyway.
Resource Link: NYS DEC Lights Out Policy
https://shorturl.at/DlPsv
Resource Link: Cornell Birdcast:
May 13, 2024 3.5 million birds migrated over Erie County
https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-NY-029?night=2024-05-13
April 15, 2025 367,1000 birds migrated over Erie County
https://shorturl.at/i1Ea1
In addition the New York State legislature is considering legislation regarding Bird Safe Buildings and Lights Out policies.
The Bird Safe Buildings Act, S.7098/A.7808, recently renamed the FLACO Act (“Feathered Lives Also Count” Act) will require any new or significantly altered state buildings to incorporate bird-friendly designs such as window and lighting standards.
The Dark Skies Protection Act, S.7663/A5632 would significantly reduce light pollution in New York by requiring most non-essential outdoor lighting be covered by an external shield, be motion-activated, or be turned off between 11 PM and 5 AM.
The WNYEA endorses the passage of these laws.
The Importance of the Niagara River Corridor
The Niagara River Corridor is a critical migratory flyway for many species of birds. This is recognized around the world as a Globally Significant Important Bird Area, and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.
Resource Link: http://www.friendsoftimesbeachnp.org/the-niagara-river-globally-significant-iba.html
These designations have occurred because of the region's location and its critical biodiversity. This biodiversity is threatened by a variety of development factors including urbanization and sprawl, light, buildings, and other infrastructure and design contexts.
Migratory birds play an important role in this regions achieving those designations that we share with places like the Galapagos, Yellowstone, and the Florida Everglades.
During the spring migration as many as three and a half a million birds have been recorded flying through just Erie County during a single night during spring migration.
In the winter, birds from the arctic and the boreal forests of the northwest pacific make the Niagara their homes, or travel through here on the way to the Atlantic wintering areas.
During spring and summer millions of neotropical birds including colorful warblers that winter in the Amazon, migrate through this region and along the lake and river shorelines.
These bird help preserve the biodiversity of important places like the Amazon, the Arctic and the Great Lakes They depend on places like the Niagara River Corridor for survival.
State agencies in this region, including the Erie Canal Harbor Development Authority, are part of New York State. Their Development at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor including the new amphitheater and new development adjacent to the Times Beach Nature Preserve are subject to the state policy.
The Western New York Environmental Alliance encourages all state agencies, the City of Buffalo, all regional municipalities, Erie County, Niagara County to adopt Lights Out Policies to help protect birds.
Many municipalities have lights out programs including New York City, Toronto, Washington D.C. San Francisco, Philadelphia, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Boston, Baltimore, and Atlanta.
Private building owners and homeowners in the corridor can also develop policies and practices that are modeled on the state Lights Out policy.
Links and Resources
Flaco Act
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/brad-hoylman-sigal/legislators-advocates-rename-statewide-bird-safe
NYS DEC Lights Out
https://shorturl.at/DlPsv
New York City Lights Out
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/new-york-city-passes-landmark-lights-out-laws/
Audubon Lights Out Initiatives https://www.audubon.org/conservation/project/lights-out
Audubon Existing Lights Out Program Locations https://www.audubon.org/conservation/existing-lights-out-programs
FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program https://flap.org/
Audubon Lights Out Fact Sheet https://nationalaudubon.app.box.com/s/kh0bwzd17w00el88ygpc50wf4sh0uoii
Lights Out Central New York
https://www.lightsoutcny.org/
Cornell Birdcast https://birdcast.info/
Buffalo Ornithological Society
www.buffaloornithologicalsociety.org
Western New York Young Birders Club
https://www.wnyybc.org/home
https://www.wnyybc.org/lightsoutcatsin
The Spark Bird Project
www.spark-bird.org
FRIENDS OF TIMES BEACH NATURE PRESERVE
http://www.friendsoftimesbeachnp.org/
International Dark Sky Association
darksky.org/
New York State Dark Sky Protection Act Legislation
www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S7663
Jay Burney: email: [email protected] (WNYEA)
John Whitney: email: [email protected] (WNYEA)
Thanks to the Western New York Environmental Alliance, the Buffalo Ornithological Society, the Western New York Young Birders Club, and the Spark Bird Project for co-sponsoring this media advisory.
April and May are the peak of Spring bird migration season in Western New York. This is a time to enjoy and celebrate the beauty and importance of returning songbirds -including shorebirds and neotropical warblers. Many of these birds are returning to the Niagara region and continuing further north. They are coming from South and Central America, the Caribbean, and coastal areas. They travel through here, stop briefly to rest and feed, or stay to breed and nest before they embark on the fall migration in September-November when they migrate to the south. Many species of migrating birds depend on the natural night sky including the stars to successfully navigate.
Unfortunately bright light pollution emanating from poorly located buildings and other tall structures cause birds to become disoriented and lethally collide with the structures. This is a phenomenon known as Fatal Light Attraction. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this phenomenon has led to the deaths of an estimated 500 million to a billion birds annually in the United States. Turning lights out during these critical overnight migration periods is a proven life-saver for birds.
New York State has adopted a policy called “Lights Out New York.” Lights Out directs State-owned and managed buildings to turn off non-essential outdoor lighting from 11 p.m. to dawn during the spring migration April 15 through May 31 and during the peak fall migration, August 15 through November 15. State agencies will also be encouraged to draw blinds, when possible, and turn off non-essential indoor lighting during Lights Out times. In addition to benefiting migrating birds, Lights Out promotes sustainability and provides cost-savings to the State. This policy should be extended to all public and private buildings, particularly those in major migration corridors like the Niagara River Globally Significant important Bird Area which is also part of the Atlantic Flyway.
Resource Link: NYS DEC Lights Out Policy
https://shorturl.at/DlPsv
Resource Link: Cornell Birdcast:
May 13, 2024 3.5 million birds migrated over Erie County
https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-NY-029?night=2024-05-13
April 15, 2025 367,1000 birds migrated over Erie County
https://shorturl.at/i1Ea1
In addition the New York State legislature is considering legislation regarding Bird Safe Buildings and Lights Out policies.
The Bird Safe Buildings Act, S.7098/A.7808, recently renamed the FLACO Act (“Feathered Lives Also Count” Act) will require any new or significantly altered state buildings to incorporate bird-friendly designs such as window and lighting standards.
The Dark Skies Protection Act, S.7663/A5632 would significantly reduce light pollution in New York by requiring most non-essential outdoor lighting be covered by an external shield, be motion-activated, or be turned off between 11 PM and 5 AM.
The WNYEA endorses the passage of these laws.
The Importance of the Niagara River Corridor
The Niagara River Corridor is a critical migratory flyway for many species of birds. This is recognized around the world as a Globally Significant Important Bird Area, and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.
Resource Link: http://www.friendsoftimesbeachnp.org/the-niagara-river-globally-significant-iba.html
These designations have occurred because of the region's location and its critical biodiversity. This biodiversity is threatened by a variety of development factors including urbanization and sprawl, light, buildings, and other infrastructure and design contexts.
Migratory birds play an important role in this regions achieving those designations that we share with places like the Galapagos, Yellowstone, and the Florida Everglades.
During the spring migration as many as three and a half a million birds have been recorded flying through just Erie County during a single night during spring migration.
In the winter, birds from the arctic and the boreal forests of the northwest pacific make the Niagara their homes, or travel through here on the way to the Atlantic wintering areas.
During spring and summer millions of neotropical birds including colorful warblers that winter in the Amazon, migrate through this region and along the lake and river shorelines.
These bird help preserve the biodiversity of important places like the Amazon, the Arctic and the Great Lakes They depend on places like the Niagara River Corridor for survival.
State agencies in this region, including the Erie Canal Harbor Development Authority, are part of New York State. Their Development at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor including the new amphitheater and new development adjacent to the Times Beach Nature Preserve are subject to the state policy.
The Western New York Environmental Alliance encourages all state agencies, the City of Buffalo, all regional municipalities, Erie County, Niagara County to adopt Lights Out Policies to help protect birds.
Many municipalities have lights out programs including New York City, Toronto, Washington D.C. San Francisco, Philadelphia, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Boston, Baltimore, and Atlanta.
Private building owners and homeowners in the corridor can also develop policies and practices that are modeled on the state Lights Out policy.
Links and Resources
Flaco Act
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/brad-hoylman-sigal/legislators-advocates-rename-statewide-bird-safe
NYS DEC Lights Out
https://shorturl.at/DlPsv
New York City Lights Out
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/new-york-city-passes-landmark-lights-out-laws/
Audubon Lights Out Initiatives https://www.audubon.org/conservation/project/lights-out
Audubon Existing Lights Out Program Locations https://www.audubon.org/conservation/existing-lights-out-programs
FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program https://flap.org/
Audubon Lights Out Fact Sheet https://nationalaudubon.app.box.com/s/kh0bwzd17w00el88ygpc50wf4sh0uoii
Lights Out Central New York
https://www.lightsoutcny.org/
Cornell Birdcast https://birdcast.info/
Buffalo Ornithological Society
www.buffaloornithologicalsociety.org
Western New York Young Birders Club
https://www.wnyybc.org/home
https://www.wnyybc.org/lightsoutcatsin
The Spark Bird Project
www.spark-bird.org
FRIENDS OF TIMES BEACH NATURE PRESERVE
http://www.friendsoftimesbeachnp.org/
International Dark Sky Association
darksky.org/
New York State Dark Sky Protection Act Legislation
www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S7663
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