|
Hi John,
In a single night this month, about 1,000 migrating songbirds crashed into Chicago's McCormick Place and died.
The Center for Biological Diversity is pushing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finally get serious about protecting birds.
Please help us today with a gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
McCormick Place has long been a death trap for birds. Every year 1,000 to 2,000 die after flying into the building.
We haven't seen a single mass die-off event like this before. The government needs to act now to prevent it from happening again.
The Trump administration implemented a rule saying the Migratory Bird Treaty Act did not prohibit the unintentional killing of migratory birds. Thanks to successful litigation by the Center, the Biden administration revoked that rule.
But we're still waiting for the Fish and Wildlife Service to issue regulations it promised more than two years ago that could have prevented this horrific event in Chicago.
Small songbirds feed during the day and migrate at night. Bright lights from buildings attract and confuse these birds.
McCormick Place has a voluntary lights-out rule while birds are migrating, with one very deadly exception: The lights stay on at night when staff are working in the building or there's a special event. As a result, on the night of October 4, the lights were on — and we saw the deadly result.
The Service has the power to fine the authority that runs McCormick Place and to require other efforts necessary to protect migratory birds.
The time to act is now: Since 1970, nearly 30% of the North American bird population has been lost — an astounding decline of roughly 3 billion birds.
It's estimated that 2 out of 3 North American bird species face extinction in the coming decades. And sadly, many of the 21 species recently declared extinct by the Fish and Wildlife Service were birds.
Extinction is a choice — and can be prevented. But only if those tasked with saving wildlife act with the urgency needed for this moment.
We're doing all we can to save species on the brink.
Help us protect wildlife with a gift now to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
For the wild,
|
