Chicago Among Deadliest Cities For Migratory Birds, Study Shows

CHICAGO — More than 35,000 people have signed a petition calling for the City of Chicago to make a Lights Out program mandatory for downtown buildings. Chicago, Houston and Dallas are the most deadly cities in the country for migratory birds, according to new research by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All three cities are in North America's most trafficked migratory corridors, researchers said.

More than 600 million birds die each year in the United States from striking tall buildings, the study shows.

The Care2 petition, which was started after the study came out, aims to protect migratory birds.

The Chicago Bird Collision Monitors group collects 6,000 birds annually in the city's one-square-mile downtown area alone, the group said. The death toll throughout the rest of the city could measure into the tens of thousands, and buildings like McCormick Place have collected around 40,000 birds in the last four decades, according to the organization.

Chicago already has some bird collision mitigation programs, but most of them ask building operators to voluntarily turn off their lights after 11 p.m.

Chicago contributes the most light pollution of anywhere in the mainland U.S., petition organizers said.

“One of the easiest and most responsible ways to ensure tragedies like these don't happen is to make the Lights Out policy mandatory during migration season, not voluntary. This method is proven to reduce collisions and it also saves energy,” Care2 petition organizers said in a statement.

“It's time for cities like Chicago, that lie in the flight path of migratory birds, to take the well-being of our nation's migrating birds into consideration and take measures to ensure they reach their final destination safely.”

A structure doesn’t have to be a skyscraper to be hazardous. Apple's low-standing flagship store downtown drew criticism for a number of fatal bird strikes in the fall of 2017, petition organizers said.