The main goal for Lights Out Las Cruces is to raise public awareness of the risks to birds during their biannual migration.   It has been shown that when people are aware of what they can do to help, good things happen.  The main contribution we can all make is to control our own night lighting.  The steps are easy and most of the time they save us money.

Bird Migration Facts:   What are the problems confronting birds during their migration?  How can we track migration in our own neighborhoods?  A truly amazing informative resource is BirdCast.com (httpps://birdcast.info/), a great place to start.

Steps for individuals: (suggested resource  https://www.darksky.org)

Do an audit of your home lighting and follow best practices:

1. Don’t over light with excessively bright lights.  Use only the minimum number of lumens needed for the application.

2. Make sure outside lights aim down and are well-shielded (using full cut-off fixtures so that they don create light trespass or glare

3. Turn off your outdoor lights when not in use or install motion sensors.

4. When converting outdoor lights tot LED, choose “warm” color temperature bulbs (13,000 or less)

Addressing Neighborhood lighting and Commercial Lighting:  The idea of telling your neighbor to modify his/her night lighting may seem daunting! The Lighting section of International Dark Sky Association discusses “My neighbor’s lighting” with several friendly suggestions.  This is also a very informative section for business owners and property managers.  Their goal is to achieve good results while maintaining neighborhood harmony.  https://www.darksky.org

Other Resources:

“Artificial light at Night:  Impacts to Birds and other Animals” by Trish Cutler, is a Power Point presentation that covers many issues related to “Lights Out” programs.  Click here to view the program on the website. (Note: downloading the PDF file document to your computer will allow viewing of the “Presenter Comments”, which are not available in the website view and which add significantly to the slides.)

National Audubon Society: Migratory Bird Initiative | Audubon    In this reference National Audubon Society makes its case for the public to emphasize the dangers inherent in bird migration in a world that is so dramatically changed from migratory behavior first became and embedded instinct.  Light pollution  is a big problem with some easy solutions that can help the birds.

Texas Audubon Society: Lights Out Texas:  This website is a very user friendly source of information for individuals that are new to this movement and has some great ideas for visitors interested in promoting Lights Out activities.

Monday Migration Series–6 quick takes on why bird migration is fascinating and important.  Submitted by Dylan Osterhaus.

(Click on date to select file)

Monday Migration 4-24-2023 Introduction

Monday Migration 5-1-2023 Swainson”s Hawk

Monday Migration 5-8-2023 Rufous Hummingbird

Monday Migration 5-15-2023 Individual’s Responsibilities

Monday Migration 5-22-2023 Why do we need to make every effort to protect birds?

Monday Migration 5-29-2023 Why are lights out such a big deal?

Conservation Form

If you have questions about our conservation for you can send us a note via our Conervation Form by clicking here.