Birds

NY lawmakers propose bill limiting artificial light at night

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NY lawmakers propose bill limiting artificial light at night

Two state lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation meant to limit outdoor lighting at night in order to better protect migrating birds.

The measure backed by Manhattan Sen. Brad Hoylman and Albany Assemblywoman Pat Fahy would require most non-essential outdoor lighting be turned off by 11 p.m., be motion activated or covered by an external shield.

The bill is meant to prevent birds who travel at night from becoming disoriented by bright nighttime lights and striking buildings

“Buildings don’t have to be bird killers,” Hoylman said. “On just one night this autumn, building workers found over 200 migratory birds dead at the base of two buildings in Manhattan. While Albany enacted legislation in 2014 to reduce excess light from state-owned buildings to help prevent migratory bird collisions, we must build on this success and reduce the impacts of artificial light throughout the state."

In New York City alone, it's estimated 90,000 to 230,000 birds are killed every year by striking buildings.

A Long-Awaited Homecoming for Peregrine Falcons in the Finger Lakes | All About Birds All About Birds

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A Long-Awaited Homecoming for Peregrine Falcons in the Finger Lakes | All About Birds All About Birds

Just a few miles north of Ithaca, New York, Taughannock Creek (pro?nounced tuh-GAN-uck) carves between the sheer rock walls of a 400-foot gorge, dropping toward Cayuga Lake in a free-fall curtain of water taller than Niagara Falls. There’s a state park trail up this gorge, with a sun-faded sign at the trailhead that bears a mono?chrome photograph of a Peregrine Falcon perched by her cliffside nest, hulking protectively over three downy white chicks. Framed by the white waters of the Taughannock cataract, the peregrine mother is a picture of power: her velocity-hewn teardrop shape is steadfast, even as the film’s long exposure captures the water rushing by. Her gaze is transfixing, even through the sign’s grainy, faded ink and the century that now separates us.

NPR

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Hundreds Of Dead Migratory Birds In New York City Prompt Calls For Dimming Lights : NPR

Early Tuesday morning, Melissa Breyer set out to do her usual volunteer work — collecting the bodies of migratory birds who had died colliding with skyscrapers in downtown Manhattan.

That morning was much worse than usual. In just over an hour, Breyer picked 226 tiny, lifeless bodies off the sidewalks around the World Trade Center. Another 35 had died but fallen onto inaccessible awnings. Thirty were still alive in need of veterinary aid and were transferred to the care of a wild bird rehabilitation center.

Ford Looking at Charging EVs by Flat Towing Them | The Drive

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Ford Looking at Charging EVs by Flat Towing Them | The Drive

t's no secret that there's still a lack of charging stations for EVs in the United States. Charging infrastructure is seen as a vital hurdle to overcome in the quest for more widespread adoption of what many consider the future of personal transportation. Ford recognizes that and has at least one other idea (besides more public chargers) on how to solve the issue.

In a recently published patent, the Dearborn automaker described a system by which an EV can be towed and charged by a vehicle such as an RV or semi-truck. This would be especially handy in sparse rural areas where people might commute in or travel to with charging stations few and far between.

USGS and Partners Continue Investigating DC Area Bird Mortality Event

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UPDATED Interagency Statement: USGS and Partners Continue Investigating DC Area Bird Mortality Event

In late May, wildlife managers in Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky began receiving reports of sick and dying birds with eye swelling and crusty discharge, as well as neurological signs. More recently, additional reports have been received from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. While the majority of affected birds are reported to be fledgling common grackles, blue jays, European starlings and American robins, other species of songbirds have been reported as well. No definitive cause(s) of illness or death have been determined at this time. No human health or domestic livestock and poultry issues have been reported.

The natural resource management agencies in the affected states and the District of Columbia, along with the National Park Service, are continuing to work with diagnostic laboratories to investigate the cause(s) of this event. Those laboratories include the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, the University of Georgia Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, the University of Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program and the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.

The following pathogens have not been detected in any birds tested, based on results received to date: Salmonella and Chlamydia (bacterial pathogens); avian influenza virus; West Nile virus and other flaviviruses; Newcastle disease virus and other paramyxoviruses; herpesviruses and poxviruses; and Trichomonas parasites. Transmission electron microscopy and additional diagnostic tests, including microbiology, virology, parasitology and toxicology, are ongoing.