Light and birds

In the spring, Israel serves as a migration route for millions of birds, many do not complete the migration route due to man-made factors, factors and barriers that in many cases with a little consideration and thought can be removed

In the spring, Israel serves as a migration route for millions of birds, many do not complete the migration route due to man-made factors, factors and barriers that in many cases with a little consideration and thought can be removed.

In the past I referred to my hazards the artificial light One of which is the confusion created by artificial lights in birds at night, many birds fly at night and navigate their way with the help of celestial bodies, artificial lights cause them to deviate which sometimes end in death, as well as the attraction to lighted towers (or dark ones that look like water reservoirs), high-rise buildings and buildings Others are marked with lights mainly for airplanes. The mistakes are mainly caused when fog, rain, dust or other visibility conditions oblige the birds to fly low, at a height where artificial lights are seen as extinguished. Confused birds circle the lights and eventually crash into buildings. In recent years, many communication towers have been erected, these are located at fixed distances even in remote and desolate areas and again to mark them for airplanes they have fixed lighting on top, lighting that causes mistakes for birders, fatal mistakes.

A group of birds in the USA. US-based Partners in Flight, was looking for a solution that would save birds from mistakes, according to a survey by the group: in the US alone, 5 million birds die every year due to collisions with communication towers, according to the birders, when you add to this number collisions in other ways and weigh the collisions in a data base My world, the amazing number is obtained - 50 million! 50 million birds in the world die because of navigation errors caused by artificial lights.

The birders looked for a way to reduce the damage and found a simple, easy and cheap way, changing the light bulbs at the top of the buildings to flashing lights, since the birds navigate with the help of heavenly bodies whose light is constant, they will react differently to flashing light. Indeed, in an experiment in the field, the assumption was confirmed, the birders received permission from the Michigan police to change the form of lighting in 21 communication towers that are about 140 meters high, each tower was illuminated in one of four ways: flashing white, flashing red, constant red and low-intensity red. For twenty days, every morning, volunteers collected the bird carcasses at the feet of the towers, the count showed that the type of lighting had a great effect on the number of collisions, at the feet of towers where there was flashing red lighting there were 70% fewer carcasses! That means crossing flashing red lights will save millions of birds from death in a collision.

Since the lighting at the top of towers, high-rises, communication towers and others is mandated by the aviation authorities, the aviation authorities have the authority to change the way of lighting, (a change that will save energy), a change that will save millions of birds, a change that will benefit all parties!