9/11 Light Tribute Confuses Migrating Birds, Study Says

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — The 9/11 tribute that beams towers of light into the sky to remember the dead is confusing a million birds, forcing them to fly into circles and smash into neighboring tower blocks, researchers have found. Many of the birds have died.

A new study that claims to be the first of its kind into “avian responses to powerful ground-based light sources” in cities looked at the massive 9/11 light installation, a yearly display that shoots two powerful beams into the Manhattan sky on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The installation uses two pillars, each made of 44 spotlights, to mirror the location of the Twin Towers before the attacks.

The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers with several universities and the New York City Audubon Society used sensors to track more than a million birds as they interacted with the memorial each Sept 11 over seven years.

The researchers found that the installation “dramatically altered” the behavior of nocturnal, migrating birds. The light would often confuse the birds and cause them to fly in circles, driving them off their migration paths.

The study says an unknown number of birds died while they were confused by the 9/11 tribute light. Simply turning the light off was enough to restore birds to their regular migration patterns within minutes.

“Migrating is already hard enough for birds without this added danger from artificial light at night,” Susan Elbin, a co-author of the study with the New York City Audubon, told the Associated Press.

The New York City Audubon society said, while the tribute lights are on, volunteers now scan the skies and alert the National September 11 Memorial and Museum when there are more than 1,000 birds circling the beams. The beams are then briefly turned off so that the birds can leave the area. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Image credit: Spencer Platt / Staff / Getty Images New