Every year on September 11, lower Manhattan lights up with an art installation titled “Tribute in Light” made up of 88 searchlights. The lights, which create two beautiful illuminated towers, can be seen up to 60 miles away and honor the memory of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
This tribute also corresponds with another annual ritual — the migration of birds from their summering grounds north of New York City, to their wintering grounds south of the city. If you look closely at the illuminated columns, you can see birds circling–caught by the bright lights. While these bright lights cause confusion in many birds, other birds seem to be using the lights to lure in prey. Jeffery Ward, who was monitoring the migratory birds that get stuck in the tribute lights with the NYC Audubon, noticed two Peregrine Falcons hunting in the lights. When I spoke with Jeffery he said that the Peregrines would go into the lights, grab a bird, and then head to a nearby crane to consume their catch before heading back out to grab another snack.
Got my see a lovely Peregrine Falcon hunting at night at the Tribune Lights. That’s a lifer moment! pic.twitter.com/7llwG9oDSa
— Jeffrey Ward (@JeffreyMWard) September 12, 2019
Artificial light at night (ALAN), which we’ve discussed on the blog before, has been shown to dramatically alter the behavior of birds that migrate at night. The NYC Audubon is now responsible for monitoring the birds that get stuck in the tribute lights. By turning off the lights for just 20 minutes, the migratory birds are able to escape and continue their journey south.
Have you seen birds out in the middle of the night? Do you have a photo or video of an urban species doing something unusual? What about a rare plant or animal that you were surprised to find in a city? If so, let Lindsay know or tweet at us and you could be featured as a future observation of the week!
Featured image: “File:Tribute in Light – 11 September 2010 – 1.jpg” by File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske) is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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