Add to the list of those who oppose tall buildings in Birmingham a few million birds.

"When tall buildings are in the flight path of birds the lights interfere with their navigation system," Detroit Audubon Society President Richard Quick explained. "The birds either fly around in circles and die of exhaustion or collide into the windows."

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Project Safe Passage Great Lakes is asking the owners of tall buildings everywhere to turn off the lights between 11 p.m. and dawn from March 15 through May 31. Many small birds, such as warblers and wrens, vireos and tanagers, migrate at night to their summer breeding grounds.

According to scientists at the Field Museum in Chicago, this mortality could be reduced by 80 percent if those lights were off.

At least draw the curtains.

The initiative is gaining momentum in Michigan. Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued a proclamation designating the periods of March 15 through May 31 as Safe Passage Great Lakes Days.

Ford Motor Company recently announced its lighting policy at World Headquarters is in compliance with Safe Passage goals, while DTE Energy Company has asked its employees close their blinds at the corporate headquarters in Detroit.

To learn more about this issue, contact the Detroit Audubon Society at (248) 545-2929 or visit the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Web site at www.flap.org.