By Deb Patrick
Bird Safe Indy Chair
Bird Safe Indy’s focus since May of 2025, when Dr. Deb Patrick assumed chairmanship, is on
legislative action for bird-safe windows, continuing past BSI Chair Austin Broadwater’s
initiatives in this area.
Mayor Hogsett Renews Bird Safe Protections
A huge thank you to Mayor Joe Hogsett and the City of Indianapolis for issuing a Mayoral Petition in 2026 encouraging “Lights-Out” for both Spring (April 15 to July 1) and Fall (September 1 to October 31) bird migration times in 2026!
BSI also is thankful to the Executive Director of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Indiana (BOMA), Sarah Kuester, who is informing members of BOMA about this Proclamation.
The first Mayoral Declaration was drafted in 2024 due to the initiative of ABAS Board member, Laurie Voss, immediate past-Chairperson of BSI, Austin Broadwater, and our fellow birder and
attorney, the late Greg Silver. Please read the full petition below.
Please feel free to download, print, post on social media, etc. and share as appropriate with your neighborhood associations, friends, families, church and organizational communities. The more we spread the word about Spring Migration and encourage the turning off or dimming of unnecessary lights, the safer will be central Indiana for our migratory birds.
Marion County-Indianapolis City-County Council Welcomes BSI Committee
Bird Safe Indy welcomed the opportunity to present information about bird window collisions
and advocate for legislation at the February meeting of the Environmental Sustainability Committee of the Marion County-Indianapolis City-County Council. Ornithologist Wesley Homoya, Austin Broadwater, and Jesse Greene (our communications/social media person) developed a PowerPoint presentation (with only 10 days’ notice of opening in ES agenda!) with Jesse delivering the presentation and Wes supporting and answering questions. We encourage all ABAS members to view their presentation at the Environmental Sustainability Committee on February 23, 2026. Our part starts at 33:49 with questions ending at 1:04:18.
The Environmental Sustainability Committee is the Committee in which a member (or members)
could draft and propose bird-friendly building and lighting legislation. If supported by this Committee, the legislation would then be brought to the full 25-member City-County Council. Councilor John Barth is the current Chairman of this Committee and is the current Vice President of the full City-County Council. See here to find names and contact information for your councilor if you live in Marion County.
Bird Safe Indy is working with American Bird Conservancy’s Glass Collision Program Coordinator, Katelyn Parkins, drawing on ABC’s and her expertise working with legislative bodies. Each of the nine members of the ES Committee received the ABC’s “Sample Ordinance” and the link to how individual communities have personalized the legislation to their local needs. Listings of North American communities who have enacted bird-friendly legislation is available on their website.
City-County Councilors to Attend Downtown Indy Bird Collision Walkabout
With expressed interest from the Environmental Sustainability Committee, Bird Safe Indy has scheduled an early May Downtown Indy Walkabout with Wes leading Councilors and staff! Participants will witness the problematic buildings, learn to identify offending glass, see good design choices, as well as various solutions to bird-window collisions. Seeing a window strike bird is a visceral and memorable experience. Lindsay Trameri, Project Manager Office of Sustainability City of Indianapolis, has proved invaluable in introducing BSI to the ES Committee, obtaining our presentation slot, and coordinating the upcoming walkabout with Chairman Barth.
BirdCast Alerts Add Indianapolis
Other news of note (and partially thanks to the advocacy of Austin), the city of Indianapolis will be part of 2026’s BirdCast Migration Alerts through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology! Purdue University is a major contributor to this site. The Indiana cities of Evansville, Fort Wayne, and Lafayette will also be added as cities with email alerts.
Subscribe to free email alerts at birdcast.org to see migration levels on any given migration night. On heavy migration nights, “lights-out” will have even more importance.
Neighboring State Update
BSI also would like to share another recent development: Chicago is implementing a seasonal “Lights Out Rule” after 11 PM to protect migratory birds! Please see this article for details.
Get Involved to Keep the Momentum Going!
BSI’s intent is to eventually expand legislative initiatives to all our ABAS central Indiana towns and cities! We appreciate ABAS as not just Indianapolis and Marion County. BSI is actively seeking volunteers. Please contact us at loi.amosbutleraudubon.org if interest is present. Thanks to all who have signed the Bird Safe Indy Petition, showing community interest in bird-friendly legislation! Our current petition stands at 532 signees. We’d love to see more. Upcoming BSI/ABAS events include Earth Day tabling at Hoosier Village (organized by Donna McCarty), April 22 11-1PM, and BirdFest at Eagle Creek Park May 2-3.
Happy Spring Birding!
Deborah Patrick
Chair, ABAS Bird Safe Indy Committee