ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - You may notice the lights that illuminate the Gateway Arch will be off for two weeks in May. That's because the National Park Service is hoping to protect some migrating birds.
For years now the St. Louis landmark has gone dark in early May, then again in late September, to protect birds. The bright lights can sometimes distract the birds while in flight and cause them to hit the 630-foot monument.
“Our feathered friends are flying home after spending the winter months in the south,” said Tarona Armstrong, Deputy Superintendent, Gateway Arch National Park. “Every bird migration season in the spring and fall, we turn off the upward lighting on the Gateway Arch’s exterior to avoid the possible disorienting effect on birds that migrate at night.”
Migrating birds such as bald eagles, tree sparrows, turkey vultures and egrets will be going to both the north and south through St. Louis in March, April and May, Bird Watchers Digest reports.
The lights will be turned back on May 15.
The Arch had new lights installed in 2018 as part of the $380 million renovations to Gateway Arch Park.