Bird Safe Indy Educator

Make a difference in your community with Bird Safe Indy, an initiative of Bird Alliance of Central Indiana. Disseminate our Indianapolis Mayoral Proclamation and Lights Out education, helping Audubon's national Lights Out program, by encouraging neighborhoods, buildings, and businesses to turn off lights during migration.

For the past four years, Mayor Joe Hogsett has issued a citywide lights out proclamation for spring and fall migration. Learn more about Lights Out education at our Bird Safe Indy webpage.

Variable, but requesting 10 hour minimum commitment. Volunteering runs on migration seasons. Fall season is 8/15-10/15. Spring season is 3/5-5/30.

ACCESS CONSIDERATIONS: Requires the ability to effectively communicate ideas, but can be done by speaking, writing, or with the aid of a translator. Materials may be disseminated at locations that volunteers already frequent.

Why is This Important?

Populations of birds have dropped precipitously in the past 50 years, with recent research indicating that as many as 3 billion birds have been lost in North America since 1970. A portion of that comes from window strikes. Working with partners, such as the City of Indianapolis and building managers, our mission is preventing bird deaths and saving energy by promoting bird-safe buildings and reducing nighttime lighting.

Birds migrate at night every year by navigation of the moon and stars. These birds become disoriented when flying over brightly-lit buildings in city areas. Confused by the lights, the birds fly into the city, and the urban environment becomes a deadly trap. The birds strike buildings as they arrive. In the morning birds take flight and collide with buildings that have clear or reflective glass. These collisions can kill or injure the bird.