Latest news with #windowcollisions
Fast Company
21-05-2025
- Science
- Fast Company
Windows are the leading human cause of bird deaths. Here's how to help
When wood thrushes arrive in northern Mississippi on their spring migration and begin to serenade my neighborhood with their ethereal, harmonized song, it's one of the great joys of the season. It's also a minor miracle. These small creatures have just flown more than 1,850 miles (3,000 kilometers), all the way from Central America. Other birds undertake even longer journeys — the Swainson's thrush, for example, nests as far north as the boreal forests of Alaska and spends the nonbreeding season in northern South America, traveling up to 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) each way. These stunning feats of travel are awe-inspiring, making it that much more tragic when they are cut short by a deadly collision with a glass window. This happens with alarming regularity. Two recent scientific studies estimate that more than 1 billion birds – and as many as 5.19 billion – die from collisions with sheet glass each year in the United States alone, sometimes immediately but often from their injuries. In fact, window collisions are now considered the top human cause of bird deaths. Due to window collisions and other causes, bird populations across North America have declined more than 29% from their 1970 levels, likely with major consequences for the world's ecosystems. These collisions occur on every type of building, from homes to skyscrapers. At the University of Mississippi campus, where I teach and conduct research as an ecologist, my colleagues and I have been testing some creative solutions. Why glass is so often deadly for birds Most frequently, glass acts as a mirror, reflecting clear sky or habitat. There is no reason for a bird to slow down when there appears to be a welcoming tree or shrub ahead. These head-on collisions frequently result in brain injuries, to which birds often succumb immediately. In other cases, birds are stunned by the collision and eventually fly off, but many of those individuals also eventually perish from brain swelling. Other injuries, to wings or legs, for example, can leave birds unable to fly and vulnerable to cats or other predators. If you find an injured bird, contact a local wildlife rehabilitator. Which windows are riskiest Some windows are much worse than others, depending on their proximity to bushes and other bird habitats, what is reflected in them, and how interior lighting exacerbates or diminishes the mirror effect. On our campus, some buildings with a great deal of glass surface area kill surprisingly few birds, while other small sets of windows are disproportionately deadly. One particular elevated walkway with glass on both sides between the chemistry and pharmacy buildings is a notoriously dangerous spot. The glass kills migratory birds each spring and fall as they try to pass between the two buildings on their way to The Grove, the university's central-campus park area with large old oak trees. During the pandemic in 2020, student Emma Counce did the heart-heavy work of performing a survey of 11 campus buildings almost daily during spring migration. She found 72 bird fatalities in seven weeks. Five years later, my ornithology students completed a new survey and found 62 mortalities over the course of five weeks in 2025, demonstrating that we still have a lot of work to do to make our campus safe for migratory birds. Thrushes, perhaps due to their propensity for whizzing through tight spaces in the shady forest understory, have been disproportionately represented among the victims. Others include colorful songbirds – northern parulas, black-and-white warblers, prothonotary warblers Kentucky warblers, buntings, vireos and tanagers. The good thing is that everyone can do something to lower the risk. Films, stickers or strings can be added on the exterior of windows, creating dots or lines, 2 to 4 inches apart, that break up reflections to give the appearance of a barrier. Exterior screens and blinds work great too. Just adding a few predator silhouette stickers is not effective, by the way – the treatment needs to span the whole window. When applied properly, window treatments can make a huge difference. An inspiring example is McCormick Place in Chicago, the country's largest convention center, which notoriously killed nearly 1,000 birds in a single night in 2023. After workers applied dot film to an area of the building's windows equivalent to two football fields, bird mortality at the lakeside building has been reduced by 95%. The Bird Collision Prevention Alliance provides information on options for retrofitting home or office windows to make them more bird friendly. Options for new windows are also becoming more common. For example, the new Center for Science & Technology Innovation on my campus, which features many windows, mostly used bird-friendly glass with subtle polka dots built into it. This spring, we found that it killed only four birds, despite a very high surface area of glass. How you can help When trying to make a difference on your home turf, I suggest starting small. Make note of which specific windows have killed birds in the past, and treat them first. Use it as an opportunity to learn what approach might work best for you and your building. Either order a product or make something yourself and get it installed. Then do another, and tell a friend. At the office, talk to people, find others who care and build a team to make gradual change. With some creative solutions, anyone can help reduce at least this major risk.
CBC
16-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Nature Regina unites enthusiasts to document and rescue birds that hit windows
Nature Regina members made their rounds last week to find feathered friends who fell victim to window collisions, a significant risk to bird populations in urban areas. The patrol was timed to line up with peak migratory patterns of many species. The program has collected 308 birds since its conception in 2020, many of which have been donated to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. In that time, SaltHaven West has been able to rescue 60 birds thanks to the program. Last week's patrol reported finding 27 birds from 11 species, with three rescues. Jeffrey Gamble, VP of Nature Regina, said the goal of the program is to increase awareness of the danger windows pose to birds. "It's kind of heartbreaking to find birds downtown, but at the same time, it's rewarding when you can rescue some," he said. "Most birds that collide with windows don't survive." According to Wetlands for Tomorrow, Saskatchewan has lost 50 per cent of its wetlands. The birds that rely on them are also in decline, with some species having lost more than 90 per cent of their Canadian populations. A total of 50 different species have been documented in Regina through the window program. "We hope to let the general public know this issue can be addressed quite easily," said Gamble. "The most simple solution we have found is Feather Friendly window markers." These window markers leave small, innocuous squares across glass to ensure birds can see the solid surface. Gamble said that during the migration season in North America, a billion birds die each year after colliding with windows. He estimates that in Regina, one per cent of window collisions occur at high-rise buildings, 10 per cent at low-rise buildings and 90 per cent in residential areas.
CTV News
07-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Montreal's Saint-Laurent borough named ‘Bird Friendly City'
The Saint-Laurent borough has enacted a new bylaw to protect birds from colliding with windows by requiring new constructions to implement special treatment for glass. (Saint-Laurent borough)
