NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – New York state lawmakers will rename bird safety legislation the "FLACO Act" and renew their push to pass the law after the early death of Flaco, the beloved owl who apparently flew into an Upper West Side building late last week.
State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and two upstate Assembly members announced Monday that they plan to rename the Bird Safe Buildings Act (S.7098/A.7808) to the Feathered Lives Also Count Act.
The law, which is in committee in the state Senate, will require any new or significantly altered state buildings to incorporate bird-friendly designs, particularly in their windows.
According to the lawmakers, nearly a quarter-million birds in New York City— and more than one billion across the country—die each year from collisions with buildings. It's a number that advocates believe can be significantly reduced if buildings use bird-safe practices.
A second piece of legislation sponsored by the lawmakers, the Dark Skies Protection Act (S.7663/A5632), aims to significantly reduce light pollution in New York by requiring most non-essential outdoor lighting to be covered by an external shield, be motion-activated, or be turned off between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Around 80% of migrating birds move at night, but light pollution can disrupt a bird's natural sense of their environment, drawing them to urban areas and disorienting them. That can lead to the critters flying into buildings, windows or other structures, the lawmakers said.
There was an outpouring of grief for Flaco in the city over the weekend following his sudden death at 13 years old. The Eurasian eagle-owl was found dead Friday on a sidewalk after apparently hitting a building on the Upper West Side.
A necropsy report released Saturday suggested a building strike was the likely cause. “The main impact appears to have been to the body, as there was substantial hemorrhage under the sternum and in the back of the body cavity around the liver,” the report said.
The Central Park Zoo has put the blame squarely on the at-large vandal who cut open Flaco’s enclosure last February to free the bird. But they’re investigating illness as a possible factor in his death, including potential exposure to rodenticides or other toxins, as well as infectious diseases like West Nile Virus and Avian Influenza.
The story of a once-captive bird who beat the odds to survive and thrive in the big city captivated New Yorkers and introduced a new generation of city dwellers to birding.
"I’m gutted at the death of Flaco the owl, who delighted countless New Yorkers through his presence in Central Park," Hoylman-Sigal said in a statement Monday announcing a renewed push to pass the bird safety bills. "His death after apparently striking a glass window pane raises the importance of our passing common-sense laws to help stop preventable window strikes, which kill millions of birds, like Flaco, each year."
The senator, who represents a swath of Manhattan's West Side, said he hopes by renaming the legislation, "we’ll not only honor this magnificent creature, but hopefully inspire our legislative colleagues to pass both the FLACO Act and the Dark Skies Protection Act."
In the Assembly, the legislation is being sponsored by Assembly Member Anna Kelles, who represents an area that includes Ithaca, and Assembly Member Pat Fahy, who represents Albany.
Kelles called Flaco's untimely death all the more "heart-wrenching" because "it was a senseless, unnecessary, and human-driven death."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.