A number of Downtown Dallas buildings will be dimming their iconic lights until October 10th to aid in preventing bird deaths during autumn migration.
This initiative is called Lights Out Texas and is being led by the Texas Conservation Alliance, the Perot Museum, the Dallas Zoo, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Former First Lady Laura Bush even sent out a PSA through the George W. Bush Presidential Center to join the cause.
According to the Dallas Zoo, birds fly through Texas on their way south during migration. Many of the billions that fly through will die due to the disorienting lights in the bright downtown area of the city.
Dallas Zoo's Kari Streiber, stated, "It causes them to veer off their migration path. It lures the birds in, causing them to fly around aimlessly which causes exhaustion." Streiber also mentioned that the birds will also often fly into the buildings and die.
Cornell University stated that nearly 958 million birds have died due to striking buildings.
To combat this, Reunion Tower, One Arts Plaza, the Hunt Building, and 1900 Pearl will dim the lights from now until October 10th from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Reunion Tower President Dusti Groskreutz said, "We're going to take our light output from 75 percent to 25 percent. It's a first for all of us, I'm eager to see what it looks like. Texans love nature and this is the right thing for the ball to do."
Photo Credit: Getty