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WEEKLY NEWS 1: NY Skyline Dimmed For Birds

The bright lights of the New York City skyline have been considerably less brilliant lately in an effort to save some migratory birds.

The Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, the Citigroup Center, the Morgan Stanley Building and the World Financial Center are included in the buildings who have agreed to lessen their voltage after numerous requests from the Audubon Society and the city’s officials.

This policy is the first citywide effort to protect migratory birds from crashing into the sides of buildings. Previously, other buildings used netting on their glass windows so birds would not make the mistake of thinking that reflections were part of the sky.

“Here is the bottom line: Birds just don’t see glass,” Daniel Klem, ornithologist at Muhlenberg College, told the New York Times. “The animals are not able to recognize glass as a barrier and avoid it.”

Many scientists believe that the bright lights of tall city buildings act as a distraction and pull birds off their migratory paths, keeping them from using stars and the moon as visual clues to their destination.

Since 1997, Audubon Society volunteers have collected more than 4,000 dead birds of 100 different species at many buildings in the Midtown and Lower Manhattan districts of New York City.

The voluntary policy is typically aimed at buildings that are taller than 40 stories and other shorter glass buildings along the Hudson and East Rivers. Many birds use the two rivers as navigational aides.

The city’s skyscrapers will now dim their lights at least twice a year--during April and May. Approximately five million birds pass through New York City during migration season, according to the New York Audubon Society.

--Written by Leah Williams

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