Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!agate!pasteur!ames!ll-xn!husc6!rutgers!att!whuts!picuxa!gpasq
From: gpasq@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Empire State Building lights
Message-ID: <685@picuxa.UUCP>
Date: 22 Oct 88 14:29:26 GMT
References: <11030@bellcore.bellcore.com> <683@picuxa.UUCP> <11141@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Reply-To: gpasq@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190)
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T/EDS Product Integration Center
Lines: 28

In article <11141@bellcore.bellcore.com> tr@wind.UUCP (tom reingold) writes:
>
>$ As a side note, I saw the Empire State Building lights on not too
>$ long ago.  I thought they were supposed to be turned off during
>$ migration to prevent migrant mortality.  Anyone know if that has
>$ changed?
>
>I don't see how they can turn off those lights.  They were installed
>in the 30's because a plane crashed into the building.  Do geese
>really fly that high?
>
>Tom Reingold

Yes, they do fly that high, and sometimes quite a bit higher.  The problem
isn't so much with the geese however, as it is with the smaller dickiebirds.
They seem to be attracted to the artificial lights of tall buildings and
lighthouses and such.  Each year there is a very high mortality rate near these
structures, and sometimes dead birds literally cover the ground.  Although I
don't know if it is true or not, I was told that the Empire State building
was supposed to turn them off to prevent the problem. 

Happy Birding!

-- 
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Greg Pasquariello                   AT&T Product Integration Center
att!picuxa!gpasq                299 Jefferson Rd, Parsippany, NJ 07054
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