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Summer
2000
The
City of Chicago and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have
signed an innovative "Treaty for Birds." Among
its features is an effort by downtown building owners to
turn off their lights during migration periods (described
here). See also the main story.
by Judy Pollock
No
one is exactly sure why migrating birds are attracted, often
fatally, to skyscraper lights at night, but we do know that
turning off the lights during migration periods reduces
mortality.
"We’ve
often been asked by Mayor Daley to turn ON our lights,"
marveled Robert Krohn, building manager of 55 East Monroe
in Chicago’s Loop, "but never before to turn OFF
our lights." But when the call came to turn off his
building’s lights during spring bird migration, Krohn
was ready to respond. At an even taller building where he
was previously employed, he witnessed large bird kills.
"It left a lasting memory."
Linda
Day, volunteer chair of the Mayor’s Wildlife and Nature
Committee, lit up when she learned that building owners
can help to save migratory birds. As Vice President of Baird
& Warner Management Group, she worked with Paul Colgan,
director of public affairs of the Building Owners and Managers
Association, to spread the word to Loop skyscrapers. Ken
Wysocki, a member of the Bird Conservation Network, gathered
the information Day needed to convince building owners that
this action was warranted, and helped to identify buildings
that were known for their high bird mortality.
The
John Hancock Center has been turning its lights out in spring
and fall at the request of Chicago Audubon for at least
10 years now. This year, the "wedding cake" building
at 311 S. Wacker has joined the Hancock in the dark along
with others.
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