Mar 24, 2009 4:17 pm US/Eastern
Lights Out For Boston As Birds Return Home
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
It is an annual ritual -- spring bird migration -- with a "darker" side you probably don't know about. Thousands of birds traveling north, mainly along coastal routes passing through big east coast cities, take to their long flights at night.
"They're traveling at high altitude, five even ten thousand feet high across the night sky," said Mass Audubon bird expert Chris Leahy.
But if clouds gather and block out the stars and clouds lower causing the birds to fly closer to the ground, there is trouble.
"If they lose the stars because of bad weather and they happen to be flying near a city, it can be a deadly situation," said Leahy.
The city lights disorient and confuse the birds causing them to crash into windows or endlessly loop around skyscrapers.
"If you do the numbers, literally hundreds of thousands of birds in a given year are killed this way. This number may even be in the millions when you consider all of North America," remarked Leahy. But there is an easy solution to the problem -- turn out the lights!
"We have got a gathering of people who represent some 31 million square feet of office space in buildings over 20 stories high," said Shay Sims, Portfolio Manager and Head of Sustainability for CB Richard Ellis.
Sims, in partnership with the City of Boston and the Mass Audubon Society, has been leading the charge to get businesses involved in a voluntary Lights Out Boston initiative during the spring migration season.
The target -- 43 properties in the city that have 20 stories or more like John Hancock, State Street Bank, Liberty Mutual, and the Prudential Tower.
"What the guys will be able to do is to put in a new program that shuts the lights off at 11 at night," said Mark Cozzens, Regional Property Manager, Boston Properties. Cozzens is in charge of the Prudential Tower, 52 stories of twinkling city lights, 101 Huntington, and 111 Huntington.
"So the crew will enter the data and put it in a schedule and this can do all three buildings," he added. "It happens automatically." This takes care of the architectural lighting that lights up the night sky.
Tackling lights on each floor is a bigger challenge. Tenents are asked to turn out their lights when they leave. Nighttime cleaning crews provide a back up, shutting off lights when their job is done.
"Some tenents work 24 hour shifts," said Sims. "We ask these folks to simply lower the blinds after 11 at night."
"We have estimated that we will save about $4,000 during this six week period," said Cozzens.
He knows the Prudential Tower is an iconic building in the city and hopes their efforts will send a message.
"We want people to remember that our enviroment is very important. Let's protect our wildlife and let's save some energy at the same time," added Cozzens.
"Mayor Menino wants to make Boston a much greener city," said Jim Hunt, Chief for Environmental and Energy Services for the City of Boston.
Some 74 percent of the city's carbon footprint comes from buildings -- the energy used to heat, power, cool, and light these buildings. By taking part in Lights Out Boston, these buildings can cut down on their lighting costs by 25 percent.
And it also makes a statement. There are simple things we all can do to make Boston greener," he added.
More people like Shay Sims would get us there faster. "It takes time, but I love the environment. I want to do everything I can to help it," said Sims.
Apparently, Sims is called the "Green Knight" for his do good "green deeds" and his "green nights" are coming up. Lights Out Boston will launch March 28 in conjunction with Earth Hour.
From that night until May 31, the span of spring migration, many commercial properties in the city will voluntarily shut off lights from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m.
Studies have shown that other cities that have started similar programs have lowered bird mortality rates by up to 80 percent. So don't forget to go dark for our feathered friends!
The Lights Out Initiative will receive a 2009 Boston Green Award on April 16 at the Boston Children's Museum.
The following are estimated annual bird deaths in North America:
- Up to 900 million are killed by flying into glass windows
- 174 million are killed by power lines
- 100 million are killed by house cats
- up to 100 million are killed by motor vehicles
- 67 million are killed by pesticides
Read: Change of lighting could drastically reduce bird deaths
Visit: www.EarthHourUS.org for general information about Earth Hour and a listing of other participating cities.
The
Mass Audubon Web site also includes information on how homeowners can help avoid bird collisions with large glass windows in homes as well as tips for saving energy in the home.
Visit: Mass Audubon Lights Out
Visit: City of Boston's Lights Out
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