In the Northern hemisphere, the onset of summer is identified with the sights and sounds of birds that are migrating. Birds such as tanagers, vireos, and grosbeaks eagerly await the arrival of summer because it is the season when plants bloom and temperatures start warming up. Outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers find it exciting to observe the different species of birds whenever there is a change in seasons. However, this is not the case for birds because most migrations result in fatalities, as many of them die. Many at times, the journeys by birds from wintering grounds are exhausting and dynamic; thus, during the migration, birds experience specific anthropogenic threats such as the loss of habitat and climate change. According to research, the United States loses more than a hundred million birds as a result of collisions alone. Light pollution has been regarded as the most significant contributor to the death of birds – For example, most songbirds hold their migrations during the night. As a result, the presence of light at night acts as a disruption to the circadian rhythm while excessive makes birds disoriented during the night when they are migrating. The presence of bright artificial light at night in buildings is responsible for attracting birds as it is with porch lights when they attract moths, which results in birds colliding with buildings, thus causing death.
Numbers, history, birds threatened and their status.
In the United States, there is about 365–988 million death of birds according to a national estimate done recently on mortality from building collisions. An estimation of avian breeding is 3.2 billion in the United States and bird collisions on large buildings leads to a decrease in the avian population of between 11% and 31% (Vágási et al., 2016 ). Initially, research done on bird building collisions described and highlighted the conservation threat while existing research mainly focuses on buildings involved in bird collisions. According to a recent study, the bird species known as "Supercolliders," were found to collide with buildings more than often when compared with other birds. The study that was conducted by the Audubon Society concluded that silent birds are not able to collide with buildings at night when compared to migrating birds that seem to vocalize or call during their flights. Artificial light at night (ALAN) can be the reason why birds vocalize due to disorientation caused, and this attracts more members of their flocks, leading to more collisions.
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What is the political situation, whose jurisdiction?
The government has the power to make legal decisions and judgement for those who fail to minimize light pollution. For a healthier ecosystem, all species must be taken care of, and it is crucial to balance avian needs for darkness and human needs for light. One of the first groups to raise awareness of bird-building collisions was the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP). One to ten birds die per building every year according to Flaps estimation. The program offers resources for learning and strategies to businesses and individuals to reduce the problem. As research on light pollution continues, essential changes can be made to minimize bird fatalities. In North America, advocacy groups are working to educate elected leaders, entrepreneurs and citizens, about this issue and implement best practices (Bekessy et al., 2020). Excessive lights throw off birds away from their migration paths, and they waste a lot of energy calling out in confusion due to disruption of ALAN. The United States government, through collaborative efforts with bird sanctuaries, is committed to helping mitigate the problems faced by migrating birds and having a discussion with the county and local governments how dark skies can be achieved for migrating birds. Efforts such as advising the locals to turn any unused lights from 2300hrs to 0600hrs as this happens to be the peak times when the birds are migrating (Winger et al., 2019). This happens in the months of March to May and from August to October.
What is required for recovery?
The research group, the Audubon Society in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, conducted a survey at the September, eleven memorial park and found put that the turning off of lights can be instrumental in reducing the collision of birds with buildings as the presence of darkness encourages migrating birds to fly away from the buildings. With respect to this, the Audubon Society has partnered with different organizations in over twenty North American cities and established Lights Out Programs. Municipalities should develop initiatives to minimize light pollution, and this will help in recovery from severe deaths of birds from building collisions. Also, homeowners should take action by eliminating or reducing outdoor lighting for recovery from birds’ mortalities experienced (Guilford et al., 2019). Besides, homeowners need to join local Lights Out Program and make inquiries about turning off the unnecessary outdoor lighting. Local birding organization should also take action to address people about the issue of light pollution and ways of minimizing it. These simple and small steps can have a more significant impact that is vital in minimizing light pollution and helps in building societies that are healthier for all species . Furthermore, working alongside your local and city organizations to assist in creating “blackout times” can make the entire neighborhoods more bird and nocturnal friendly. A good example is two towns in Colorado (Silver Cliff and Westcliffe) who can make their city into a dark-sky destination, and they are currently saving energy while fighting against light pollution.
What is the status for change?
Many countries are adopting strategies to minimize death rates of birds during their migration. In Colorado, people enjoy dark skies times, and they are saving energy as well as caring for bird species. Homeowners are also not left behind; some of them are pledging with the local light providers to remove unnecessary outdoor lighting in their backyards. By adopting to strategies of minimizing light pollution, the risk of death of birds reduces; thus, there is a healthier ecosystem.
Actual scientific research
Scientists are still researching the reasons why most birds are attracted to brightly lit buildings, which raises specific concerns on how light pollution affects the biology and ecology of various species of birds (Parkins et al.,2015). According to a recent survey that was conducted based on the distribution of birds in brightest areas, the results indicated that the density of birds was found to more in cities, and the effects were experienced about 125 miles from the cities. According to the researchers, flying birds can see a sky glow of a city on the horizon up to many hundred kilometers away. Migrating birds are yet to adapt to the urban environment the same way that resident birds have. Scientists also need to conduct further research in order to determine the psychological or behavioral factors that are responsible for causing the collision of birds to buildings and whether these factors are related to the phylogenic trends of collision risks. State and federal governments, as well as bird enthusiasts, must focus on conservation efforts that are aimed at mitigating collision mortality as well as supporting the reproduction and survival of such birds so as to minimize the damage caused by collisions to such populations.
Why should we care?
We need to take care of birds because they are also intricate components ecosystem which we need for our survival. Animals, marine species are as important as human beings for maintaining a healthy ecological system. In the functioning of the world's most sophisticated ecosystems, birds play a vital role and directly impact the economy, food production as well as human health (Lao et al., 2020). Birds help in pollination in plants, they disperse seeds, control pests, keeps coral life alive, inspire science, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth (Kasambe, 2020). Without birds, the planet would lose its most engaging envoys, and nature would lose its voice. Therefore, it’s important to take care of birds to maintain a healthier and balanced ecosystem.
Facts learned
Migration of birds occurs during summer seasons at nights (Winger et al., 2019).
Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupt bird’s migration and attracts them, and this results in bird collisions (Winger et al., 2019).
Previous studies show that turning off the lights during bird migration can help reduce rates as the birds follow their migration paths (Winger et al., 2019).
Birds play an important role in the control of pests and a recent study found out that birds eliminated more than 400 million tons insects annually (Winger et al., 2019) .
Many of the world’s ecosystems are transformed by birds as they help transform pollutants into nutrients, store carbon and oxygenate the air. Birds are also responsible for maintaining the delicate balance between predator and prey, herbivores and plants (Winger et al., 2019).
References
Kasambe, R. (2020). Birds in agriculture . Raju Kasambe.
Guilford, T., Padget, O., Bond, S., & Syposz, M. M. (2019). Light pollution causes object collisions during local nocturnal maneuvering flight by adult Manx Shearwaters Puffinus. Seabird , 31 .
Lao, S., Robertson, B. A., Anderson, A. W., Blair, R. B., Eckles, J. W., Turner, R. J., & Loss, S. R. (2020). Undefined. Biological Conservation , 241 , 108358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108358
Bekessy, S., Garrard, G., Hurley, S., Visintin, C., Thomas, F., & Kirk, H. (2020). Outdoors: Nurturing nature: Designing a home with biodiversity in mind. Sanctuary: Modern Green Homes , (50), 80.
Toews, D. P., Lovette, I. J., Irwin, D. E., & Brelsford, A. (2018). Similar hybrid composition among different age and sex classes in the Myrtle–Audubon's warbler hybrid zone. The Auk: Ornithological Advances , 135 (4), 1133-1145.
Parkins, K. L., Elbin, S. B., & Barnes, E. (2015). Light, glass, and bird—Building collisions in an Urban Park. Northeastern Naturalist , 22 (1), 84-94. https://doi.org/10.1656/045.022.0113
Vágási, C. I., Pap, P. L., Vincze, O., Osváth, G., Erritzøe, J., & Møller, A. P. (2016). Morphological adaptations to migration in birds. Evolutionary Biology , 43 (1), 48-59.
Winger, B. M., Weeks, B. C., Farnsworth, A., Jones, A. W., Hennen, M., & Willard, D. E. (2019). Nocturnal flight-calling behavior predicts vulnerability to artificial light in migratory birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B , 286 (1900), 20190364.
