24-05-2025
Our homes' silent kereru killer
A Queenstowner's advising people with large glass surfaces on their properties to implement bird-safe glass treatments. PHOTO: ARCHIVE
A Queenstown gardener is appalled she's now seen three dead native wood pigeons, or kereru, in Kelvin Heights as a result of glass collision — the latest early this month.
Brenda Gosling, a gardener for 18 years, is calling on homeowners to implement bird-safe glass treatments like frosted glass stickers.
Gosling says she stopped working for a Kelvin Heights client when he refused to take action after a kereru died flying into his glass balustrade.
"Wood pigeons are swooping down and smack into these glass balustrades and break their necks.
"Many of us choose glass balustrades to keep our views unobstructed, but those same surfaces are a silent killer for our kereru."
She notes kereru are vital to the health of our forests. "As one of the only birds capable of dispersing large native seeds, they play a crucial role in regenerating native bush."
Local ecologist Dawn Palmer's aware of glass collisions involving kereru.
"At this time of year, some of our trees, rowans, hawthorns, holly trees, they're producing seed and if the kereru sit on these trees and gorge themselves on fruit, they can become a bit heavy.
"They can sometimes have some difficulties taking off, and sometimes that leads them to collide with glass."
Palmer says there are a number of products that can be put on windows "so the birds perceive the window as a solid object rather than a fly-through space in the reflected image on the glass".
She recommends people check out on YouTube a recent Cornell Lab of Ornithology webinar, 'It's Clear — Glass Kills. How to Prevent Bird Collisions at Your Home'.
She adds people can also join online a free Birds NZ Otago branch talk this coming Tuesday, 7.30pm, on 'Reflections on Bird Window Strikes in the Philippines'.
Palmer adds anyone finding a dead kereru could take it to Department of Conservation so it can learn more about the bird.
Anyone else aware of birds colliding with glass can email Brenda Gosling — brendagosling45@
