30 June 2024

In May I encountered a building that showed me how to think like a bird. Here is the building. What do you see?

Sky. Trees. Four buildings. Railings. Stairs.

At street level we see stairs, railings, trees, white buildings but not the building we are close enough to touch. The Effron Music Building at Princeton University virtually disappears in its reflections.

Facing the glass you can see through it to suspended wooden practice rooms, yet the surface of the Effron Music Building still reflects its surroundings.

Now, imagine you are the size of a songbird.

What do you see instead of the window glass? Leaves. Branches.

What do you see instead of the glass? Sky. Trees.

What do you see here? Lots and lots of trees and an inviting backyard to fly into.

These optical illusions are why glass kills one billion birds every year in the U.S.  That’s 2.7 million birds per day.

Towering skyscrapers might seem like the most obvious culprits [of bird deaths], yet Loss’s team found that 56 percent of the mortality occurs at low-rises (4-11 stories tall); 44 percent at residences (1-3 stories tall), and less than 1 percent at high-rises (12 stories and up).

— National Audubon: Hundreds of Millions of Birds Are Killed Annually from Building Collisions

56% of the deaths are at 4-11 story buildings: offices, apartments and academic buildings such as 5-story Craig Hall at Pitt where a juvie peregrine died in 2012.

Low-rise buildings are more likely to cause bird deaths when they reflect trees in the glass. I noticed that the Effron Music Building does not have greenery anywhere near the reflective surface so it probably doesn’t cause many bird deaths.

Our homes, however, have landscaping that reflects on the glass. 44% of bird deaths are at 1-3 story residences.

Do birds hit your windows at home? Take a look at your windows. Think like a bird. What do you see?

PREVENT BIRDS FROM HITTING YOUR WINDOWS AT HOME: Reflective glass must be treated on the outside to alter the entire look of the windows. The treatment must make the birds see a wall or a mesh too small to fly through. Here are tips from Fatal Light Awareness Program in Toronto and the American Bird Conservancy

• All About Birds: Why Birds Hit Windows—And How You Can Help Prevent It
• FLAP Canada: Stop Birds from Hitting Your Windows
• American Bird Conservancy UV reflective bird tape.

13 March 2024

Have you seen coils or fluttering tags on power lines? Not related to power transmission, these accessories are visual cues that alert birds to the presence of wires.

Bird diverters come in many shapes and have changed over the years as new products come to market and are approved by government agencies. California commissioned a 2008 study to evaluate the orange and fluorescent swinging tag below for use in the Sacramento Valley where hundreds of thousands of waterfowl spend the winter.

This (newer than 2008) model from Power Sentry glows in the dark and is visible in fog.

It is also less expensive to install because it can be done by drones.

Those devices are for the birds.

These are for pilots.

Red ball markers make power lines visible to airplane and helicopter pilots and are usually installed near airports and on long lines over rivers and canyons.

Ironically, they have to be installed from helicopters. This 6-minute video filmed in West Virginia shows a job I could never do.

Wondering about cones? They are also visual cues for pilots.

p.s. Some of you know more about this than I do. If I got it wrong, please leave a comment.

(credits are in the captions)