For the millions of migrating birds that navigate the north-east coast of the US each year, the lights of tall buildings can prove a fatal attraction. But their annual pilgrimage is about to become significantly less hazardous.Andrew Cuomo, the New York State governor, has ordered that non-essential lights be switched off overnight at state buildings in an effort to combat the lethal nocturnal distraction.Migrating species, including colourful warblers and other songbirds, fly at night using star constellations as navigation guides.But in darkness and especially in bad weather, outdoor lights can confuse the birds, causing them to crash into windows, walls, floodlights or fall to the ground exhausted.The phenomenon, called "fatal light attraction", kills up to one billion birds a year in the US, according to estimates by the Department of Agriculture.Many perish on the Atlantic Flyway, a migration route that passes through New York state as the birds fly north in the spring and head back in the autumn.Cuomo has ordered state buildings to turn off non-essential lights between 11pm and dawn during the two peak migration seasons.The Lights Out programme run by the National Audubon Society, America's largest bird conservation group, is also supported by several cities across the US, including Baltimore, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco. ..