Bird and insect populations are in crisis. We have already lost a quarter of all birds in the U.S. and Canada. Around 40% of all insect species are experiencing declines – creatures vital to nearly every ecosystem on the planet as pollinators and part of the food chain. These declines are also interconnected: 96% of North America’s terrestrial bird species rear their young on insects, so when we lose insects, we also lose birds. 

There are multiple reasons for these devastating declines but one is our nighttime lights. Many flying insects are attracted to outdoor lights, hovering around them until they succumb to exhaustion. 80% of migrating birds make their journeys at night and attraction to nighttime lights can waylay determined migrators, killing millions of birds each year. 

However, an easy solution lies right in front of our eyes. White and blue light are the most attractive to insects and birds, while many will not be attracted to yellow and red light. We can save many insects and bird lives by switching lightbulbs to yellow or red. Warmer colored lights such as yellow, orange, and red are an easy fix we should apply to our streetlights and outdoor lights at home.

Let’s make our home city of Philadelphia a leader in helping protect birds and insects. We are calling on the Philadelphia Department of Streets to switch street lightbulbs to yellow LEDs, ensuring insects and birds a livable future. We urge Commissioner Carlton Williams to begin a program to switch our night lights to yellow ‘bug light’ LEDs – they are available online and are inexpensive. We also pledge to do this in our own homes.

Sign the petition below to support this effort! Please also contact Carlton Williams (phone number (215)-686-5460, email address carlton.williams@phila.gov) and share the petition with your friends.