“Every Texan can participate in protecting our feathered friends by simply turning off their lights at night…Taking action now is vital because every spring and fall, between a third and a quarter of all birds migrating at night through the United States travel through Texas.” – Former First Lady and Texan by Nature Founder, Laura Bush

Lights Out Texas is a collaborative campaign of education, awareness, and action that focuses on turning out lights at night during the spring and fall migrations to help protect the billions of migratory birds that fly over Texas annually.

Texan by Nature leads Lights Out Texas efforts across the state in collaboration with many organizations that lead volunteer efforts and conduct community outreach in their city. This spring Texan by Nature is co-facilitating Lights Out Texas, with friends and partners at Audubon Texas. 

Take Action: turn off non-essential lights at night from 11 pm – 6 am during the full fall and spring migration periods, and where conflicts apply, prioritize lights out during the critical peak migration periods

Each year nearly 2 million birds migrate through Texas. ¼ of all birds migrating through the US pass through Texas in Fall and ⅓ pass through Texas in the Spring. Additionally, most birds migrate at night. They include waterbirds, cuckoos, flycatchers, thrushes, warblers, orioles, and buntings. Nighttime movement gives them protection from their diurnal predators. They feed and rest by day to build up energy stores for their long-distance flights at night.

Migrant birds that travel at night use the stars to determine their bearings. In clear weather, captive migrants head immediately in the proper direction using only the stars. Birds apparently can determine their longitude and latitude by the position of the stars. Evidence also indicates that the glare of the moon can interfere with this orientation.

Cover – Warbling Vireo by Andrew Weitzel, Wikimedia Creative Commons