Wildlife Rescue League, the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, Dark Sky NOVA and Dark Sky Friends Team Up

Wildlife Rescue League, the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, Dark Sky NOVA and Dark Sky Friends Team Up

Wildlife Rescue League is pleased to announce our collaboration with the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance (formally Audubon Society of Northern Virginia), Dark Sky NOVA and Dark Sky Friends to reduce nighttime lighting to help prevent bird deaths from window collisions.

Every year, billions of birds migrate during the spring and fall seasons. Over 100 million of them migrate through Northern Virginia each spring and 160 million migrate through each fall. They frequently fly at night with the natural light in the sky helping them to navigate their way. In Northern Virginia and surrounding areas, migration begins mid-March, with peak migration April through May, and again in September through October.

Window collisions are a leading cause of bird deaths, with an estimated one billion birds dying every year. The majority of these deaths are said to occur in the fall during the annual migration period to their wintering grounds. Since birds have spent the summer raising their broods, the overall bird population is higher. More birds equate to more collisions. In addition, these younger birds are migrating for the first time and do not have the experience that older birds have.

During the nighttime, commercial buildings and residential homes that display lights confuse migrating birds, drawing them away from the sky’s natural lighting and down into cities and suburban areas, causing collisions with windows that are highly reflective.

During the daytime, the windows of high-rise buildings reflect the foliage of trees and sky, and birds do not recognize the glass as an obstacle they cannot fly through.

Beginning April 1, 2025, over 25 Wildlife Rescue League volunteers will be walking routes in several of the more urban locations throughout Northern Virginia including Tysons Corner, Reston, Ballston and Crystal City to determine the extent of bird deaths from window collisions in Northern Virginia. The data collected during these walks will be provided to commercial building managers as an incentive to turn their building lights off from 11pm to 6am, as well as to local legislators in an effort to have laws enacted that will require developers to use bird-friendly construction materials in the design phase of building development.

Migration season is almost here – be our partner in reducing nighttime lighting to help save birds!

• Turn lights off at night
• Turn exterior house and landscape lighting off between 11pm-6am
• Keep curtains closed at night
• Encourage retail and office buildings in your neighborhood, as well as your neighbors, to turn lights off at night.
• Install bird friendly window decals or other screening on your windows to help prevent collisions during the day.

Notify WRL

• If you find a dead bird at the base of, or close to a building, take a photo of it and send the photo along with the date, time and location to LightsOut@wildliferescueleague.org.
• If you find a stunned or injured bird, gently place it in a small box or bag lined with a paper towel and call WRL’s Wildlife Assistance Helpline at 703-440-0800. Leave a detailed message and a helpline volunteer will return your call with a referral to a permitted wildlife rehabilitator.