Every so often, a bird hits the dining room window. Most of the time the bird flies off, a little dazed but okay. Other times, I find the bird alive, on the ground stunned. Knowledgeable in how to treat wildlife in shock, I provide the bird with the necessary environment to rest and within an hour, the bird regains her bearings and I release her back into the wild.
Much of has written about the effect of birds and manmade structures. Estimates ranging from 100 million to 1 billion birds are killed annually in the United States by window collisions. Most of the dead birds are passerines such as the American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, Cedar Waxwings, Chickadees and Sparrows. (a)
The architectural trend towards large areas of glass in office buildings and homes has escalated the number of collisions. In the Audubon Magazine March 2004 issue, it stated that at the McCormack Place Convention Center in Chicago more than 26,000 birds were killed over a 20 years period. If that one building alone can cause that many known deaths, I cannot fathomed the number of bird kills throughout the world with all of the tall glass structures built and being built here in the U.S. and in China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and other rapidly growing metropolitan areas. (b)
The danger with large window areas is two-fold. The first is the obvious nature of glass that allows us to see through it unobstructed. That quality which is beneficial to us gives the mistaken illusion to birds and other wildlife that no barrier exists. The result is collisions that can injure or kill the animal who tries to pass through it.
Secondly is the light that projects outward from windows at night. Developed countries use lighting for safety and esthetic purposes and the prolific use of lighting in urban settings creates daylight environments even in the middle of the night. Many birds use constellations (the moon and stars in particular) to navigate during the nighttime hours. Artificial lighting confuses the internal navigational senses and has the effect of directing birds into unsafe areas such as buildings, towers, boats and other structures.
There has been much research in how to prevent bird collisions. Here are some things as homeowners we can do to reduce the risk of window collisions:
1. “Move bird feeders, bird baths and perches to within 3 feet of your window — you’ll see the birds better and they can’t fly fast enough to get hurt.
2. Collisions are caused by birds trying to fly through glass or because they see reflections from the outside — so do what you can to break up or eliminate this by placing decals or strings on the outside of your windows, separated by no more than 4 inches vertically and 2 inches horizontally.
3. Use screens, films or other coverings on your windows that eliminate reflections — or use bird-safe glass.
4. If constructing new windows, consider angling them 20 to 40 degrees from vertical.
5. When installing new landscaping, consider placing trees, shrubs, water features, and other bird attractants well away from windows.” (c)
There are organizations that work with architects and companies to develop new ways to reduce the effect of buildings and wildlife. FLAP, Fatal Light Awareness Program, a Canadian based organization, collects data and research on bird kills and educates the public on how to reduce this number. For more information on FLAP, see www.flap.org
Sources:
(a) House windows kills 22M Canadian birds a year: survey; Tom Spears, The Ottawa Citizen October 2, 2012;
(b) Clear & Present Danger, David Malakoff, Audubon March 2004
(c) Window Glass: Silent Bird Killer?, Dave Mehlman; Nature Conservancy February 2010; http://blog.nature.org/2010/02/window-glass-silent-bird-killer-nature-conservancy/
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