Portland's Audubon Society fights lights pollution, helps migrating birds with Lights Out Portland
The Audubon Society hopes to ease the avian death toll as it launches Lights Out Portland, part of a nationwide effort to reduce overnight lighting in urban areas, particularly during spring and fall bird migrations -- mid-March to early June, and late August through mid-November.
The Audubon Society hopes to ease the avian death toll as it launches Lights Out Portland,
part of a nationwide effort to reduce overnight lighting in urban
areas, particularly during spring and fall bird migrations -- mid-March
to early June, and late August through mid-November.
Birds
frequently migrate at night, using stars to navigate. City lights can
obscure the night sky's visual cues and can lure birds into urban areas,
where dangers abound, says Mary Coolidge, Portland Audubon's assistant
conservation director.
"Light pollution interrupts circadian
rhythms," Coolidge says. "With birds, it can affect breeding and
migrating cycles, foraging and predator-prey relationships."
