Window crashes, also known as bird strikes, kill millions of birds with *every* migration. You might not think it happens to your windows, but it does, and you’re not there to witness it. But we can stop it entirely.
I actually did for my own home, detailed in a later blog post – Fritted, decorated windows preventing bird crashes: Weird no more
I was in Toronto this week. The Corktown Common park was a joy to visit. It has a constructed wetland that they seeded well with native species. It has reeds, duckweed, and native water fleur-de-lys, making it a wonderful habitat for birds. I only wish it were larger, but that it is so accessible to wandering humans means they have a chance to see nature they won’t otherwise see. It whets the appetite for the real thing!
On the walk to the park, we also saw a lone swan nesting, or resting, by the viaduct. It was strange to see that in a “no-man’s-land” off the eastern part of downtown, but as always, it was welcome. I also saw a red-wing blackbird feeding his nestlings. Or, more like, I saw him arrive with food, heard the cacophony of chirps, and then saw him fly off to get more.
There’s a newly constructed glass building in the new West Don Lands area that used bird-friendly glass, with dots impregnated into the glass every 8-10 cm (ideally, though, it should be every 5 cm). Birds need to see that the reflective glass is not “air to fly through,” so interruptions or obstructions in the reflected light are necessary.
Toronto is in the middle of a flyway. Though we need to carry out bird-friendly design (and leaving some places alone to be wild) everywhere, Toronto recognizes its problem, and since 2010, Toronto has mandated bird-friendly glass on all new construction. The official design guidelines are here.
Building standards and bird-friendly design
Building standards are set by various bodies of responsibility: Municipal, provincial or state, and also the building or construction codes not only of the legal jurisdiction, but by the property managers (which can be private / corporate and public / state agency).
There’s a push to make bird-friendly design a provincial or general building standard in some provinces, but it’s only just beginning. With all the glass buildings being constructed, it’s almost as if developers are in a rush to damn the consequences before the standards are in place. Retrofitting is always more expensive and “optional.”
Architectural standards for bird-friendly buildings already exist – builders and renovators should do it by default! You can find it here: Bird-Friendly Building Design – American Bird Conservancy. It’s a continuing education credit with the American Institute of Architects and with the Green Building Council.
Also, the Audubon Society shared this video on Building for the Birds. Click the image to go see it on YouTube.
Your guide to retrofitting windows:
The expansion of urban habitat and insatiable demand for housing (and mirrored buildings) means only one thing to birds: imminent danger. Until buildings retrofit and cladding fashions change again (in another 25 years), do what you can to install bird-safe “retrofits” on your windows. These are clear warnings to the birds that the sky and trees is a surface reflection, not a continuation of space for flight.
Example: decals, tape, strings, or another interference pattern. Put it on all windows reflecting trees, regardless of building type, from three to as high as 5 storeys up! Don’t forget those god-awful “birds aren’t real” glass balcony barriers!
Quick tips for right now: make a grid of scotch tape dots, chalk marker streaks, or bar-of-soap streaks across the offending window — even lipstick dots or post-it notes put into a 2″ spaced grid will help! Whatever won’t melt off in the rain, that you can remove or scrub off in June when migration’s over (more permanent plans are here).
Your guide to everything to stop birds from hitting windows is at this link from the American Bird Conservancy: https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/
Here is a guide about what DOES NOT work:
https://safewings.ca/strategies/ineffective-measures/
One quick solution you can make on the cheap and install, regardless of whether you own or rent, is Acopian Bird Savers. I made a tutorial when I needed to do a few windows between efforts of a more permanent nature.
Activism helps.
The North American Birds of Migration Treaty, meant to prevent the killing of wild birds, isn’t fully enforced on the environmental pollution and nuisance of glass cladding, although they could. Ontario made a few strides against it, but even there, the Ministry of the Environment tried to soft-pedal it and make the code voluntary for the incredibly powerful development lobby.
Read the American Bird Conservancy’s ABCs of Bird-Friendly Building Design to know all about the whys and hows of this important issue. Share it with any friends and colleagues who work in the municipal planning and construction and architecture fields, so they can realize the ramifications of what they build, and build better.
American readers, you can support Audubon and the American Bird Conservancy in the push to standardize bird-friendly building measures and standards. Here is an action alert for the Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act. A new bill would help reduce these deadly collisions by incorporating bird-safe building materials and design features into federal buildings. What people can get used to seeing, can become the norm across all commercial buildings.
Very interesting read. Enjoying your blog. Keep it coming