No one likes to hear the awful “thud” a bird makes when hitting a window — least of all bird lovers. A report from Environment Canada ace-eco.org indicates that window collisions are the second-highest direct human cause of bird deaths in Canada — as many as 42 million casualties annually, an appalling number.
Some of those collisions happen in large cities during migration. Most songbirds migrate at night and rely on the stars and the moon to navigate. Excessive artificial lighting attracts them to urban centers where they become disoriented and perceive illuminated buildings as open spaces. They flutter around, often colliding with one another and — worst of all — with tall buildings.
However, about ninety percent of bird casualties occur in residential areas. In smaller cities and rural areas, the problem has become a much bigger issue since large portions of wild habitat —wooded lots, meadows and fields — have been replaced by new residential developments.
Transparent or reflective window glass is an invisible barrier to birds, and they attempt to fly through what appears to be a reflection of open space and vegetation. It usually happens when birds panic at the sight of a raptor or a cat, or following a loud noise. Most birds die on impact, but even if they survive they are often left with life-threatening injuries, concussions, shock, internal bleeding, broken bones or brain damage.
Luckily, you can do something to remedy the situation. Chances are, only one or two windows in your house could pose a danger for birds: focus on those windows. To determine if a window is dangerous, go outside and look at your windows from a bird’s point of view, at different times of the day, from different angles. A window that reflects a lot of vegetation is dangerous, and so are transparent deck railings and windows that face one another.
There are a lot of options to make your windows safer for birds: vertical and horizontal markings, decals, stickers, mylar strips; all of which are only effective when applied to the exterior of the window featherfriendly.com.
Screens are also effective, as well as netting. You can mount the netting on a frame, such as a storm-window frame, for easy installation and removal. Place it at least three inches from the glass: it should be taut enough so that birds bounce off unharmed. Small-mesh netting (around 5/8” or 1.6 cm) is best.
FLAP Canada flap.org and BirdSafe birdsafe.ca provide all the information and instructions you need to make your windows safer for birds. For close to 30 years, FLAP Canada (Fatal Light Awareness Program) has been widely recognized as the leading authority when it comes to preventing bird-building collisions. BirdSafe is led by FLAP Canada.
“Feather Friendly©” featherfriendly.com offers a complete selection of markers and tapes to make your windows safe for birds. With its 120,000 square feet of glass surfaces, the McCormick Place in Chicago is infamous for killing thousands of migrating birds through the years. The building owners have installed Feather Friendly markers on the windows, and are very happy to report that bird collisions are down by 95%!
At stopbirdcollisions.org/solutions-glass, you’ll find a whole gamut of options to “make your glass safe for birds” — even DIY projects to do with the kids.
With a minimum of effort and money, we can all prevent bird-window collisions around our homes.
Editor’s Note: A fiercely bird-friendly friend of ours finds that the ¾” clear tape made by CollidEscape is doing a great job of stopping collisions while not obstructing the view out her windows. More information is available at CollidEscape.org.