Picturesque Metro Vancouver is admired for its stunning natural beauty, benign climate and diverse wildlife, however, in this beautiful, green urban area, an alarming threat faces birds - bird-window collisions.
The familiar dull thud is the result of a bird hurtling into a glass surface as it tries to fly through to the other side. Most collisions result in immediate death for the bird, yet even a non-fatal collision can temporarily stun a bird, making it easy prey for cities’ many scavengers. Many birds fly off, seemingly recovered, but later die from broken bones, internal bleeding or bruising.
The estimated number of birds’ deaths from window collisions is truly horrifying.
Municipal governments are taking notice and Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and San Francisco have introduced bird-friendly guidelines or best management practices.
UBC and SFU have developed Bird Friendly Design Guidelines for Buildings to provide cost-effective solutions to help reduce collisions on campus.
Glass manufacturing companies are exploring innovative fixes by incorporating patterns visible to birds yet transparent to humans.,
Public awareness is being addressed through Vancouver schools and various workshops and seminars.
A number of bird conservation groups, including Birds Canada, provide tools for reducing bird-window collisions. See: www.birdscanada.org/you-can-help/make-windows-safer-for-birds.
In addition to providing advice, the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada has an online Global Bird Collision Mapper collision-reporting tool. Community organizations such as the Victoria Bird Strike Initiative and Safe Wings Ottawa are also trying to effect change by increasing public awareness of the problem and seeking solutions.
Fall migration, a particularly hazardous time for birds, will soon be upon us. This is the perfect time to consider collision-proofing your home.
Together we can push the needle forward to protect birds struggling to navigate our urban world. We want a future where bird-window strikes are increasingly rare.
Editor’s note: Nature Notes is a monthly column presented by the Delta Naturalists and their community partners. For info on monthly meetings and more see: www.dncb.wordpress.com and www.facebook.com/DeltaNats/.
