GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas — Galveston County officials are asking some residents and businesses to turn off or block out their lights on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, to help protect migrating birds.
This is in response to what happened on May 4th, 2017, when nearly 400 birds crashed into the National Federal Building and died.
Josh Henderson with the Galveston Police Department’s Animal Services Unit, says the stormy weather pattern combined with birds’ migration patterns could pose a danger to birds.
Henderson responded to last year’s call and helped collect the hundreds of birds that peppered the pavement around the 23-story building.
“Just the sheer number of birds was astounding,” remembered Henderson. “[The] thunderstorms, rain, heavy fog… mixed with some very significant lighting caused approximately 400 birds to be caught in, basically a tunnel of light.”
Henderson compares the event to what happens when a deer is caught in headlights. The ‘light tunnel’, often formed by lights pointing upwards, mixed with clouds and fog, disorientates the birds causing them to either crash into each other or a structure.
The flocks of birds that died in 2017 including 20 different species counting the Cerulean Warbler, an endangered one.
“Being able to find those birds at all is intriguing, unfortunately, finding them deceased was absolutely a tragedy,” Henderson said.
Everyone in a home or building that has three stories or more, is asked to either turn off their lights or close their blinds on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
“I’ve been doing animal control since 2006 and that is the one and only time I’ve responded to an event like that,” Henderson said.
The American National Building has since turned off its 20 spotlights and took down its roof lights in hopes of preventing a similar tragedy.