{"id":38859,"date":"2019-03-31T11:24:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T15:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=38859"},"modified":"2019-04-01T12:29:33","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T16:29:33","slug":"university-of-pittsburgh-helps-migrating-birds-by-dimming-victory-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/university-of-pittsburgh-helps-migrating-birds-by-dimming-victory-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Pittsburgh Helps Migrating Birds by Dimming \"Victory Lights\""},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Pitt Victory Lights. Photo by Michael Kutilek<\/em>.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure><\/div>\n

From the Spring 2019<\/a> issue of <\/em>Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now<\/a>.<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n

Every time the University of Pittsburgh football team wins a game, powerful spotlights aimed straight up at the sky shine from the tallest building on campus for several nights. Now thanks to quick action by a few people who care about birds, these \u201cVictory Lights\u201d will not pose a hazard for birds migrating through the area.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, October 7, 2018, Pitt won its homecoming game against Syracuse, triggering illumination of the Victory Lights. The following evening, Pittsburgh-based nature writer and bird blogger Kate St. John was monitoring weather radar and saw there was a large pulse of bird migration around Pittsburgh right after sundown. Knowing that the lights were still illuminated, St. John drove to campus to find out if birds were becoming disoriented by the bright blue beam.<\/p>\n

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