An estimated one billion birds in the United States die from window collisions each year. That’s a shocking number and it makes window strikes one of the top three killers of birds, along with habitat destruction and outdoor cats.
Birds fly into windows because they appear to be passageways to open areas. At certain times of the day, windows act as mirrors, reflecting the surrounding environment. To a bird, it looks like habitat. All birds are at risk for this kind of injury, and it can kill a healthy bird. The windows of houses account for nearly half of all bird strikes (44%) ; and of these, over half are at low-rise buildings.(56%) Fewer than 1% occur at high rise buildings. Migratory birds, generally, are more likely to fly into your windows than your residential birds. The locals know the area. It’s important to be extra aware in the spring and fall, during the peak migration times.
This is a problem that we all can address. Listed below are simple solutions:
- Move your feeders and birdbaths away from the house—farther than 30 feet; or closer than 3 feet. These distances give startled birds time to readjust their flight path, or if close in, a collision against a window won’t have much impact. (Force = mass x acceleration.)
- Keep your screens on all the time. The impact lessens if a bird hits the screen before the window.
- Move large houseplants away from the windows where strikes occur.
- Use patterns or decals that break up the image on the outside of the window. Lots of products to choose from. See: https://windowalert.com/?gclid=CPCFurLFiMgCFQmVfgodGDkKJQ
- Drape netting designed specifically for bird strike prevention over the glass. See: https://www.nixalite.com/product/pollynet-premium-bird-netting
- Use UV paint pens to paint your own pattern on the window pane. Find on-line at: https://windowalert.com/windowalert-uv-liquid/
Outdoor lighting can also confuse birds and other wildlife and has been shown to have harmful effects on their biorhythms. Rethink your outdoor lighting. Does it need to be lit? Is it properly shielded and aimed down? If you are converting to LED lighting outside, use a warm LED light, under 3,000 Kelvins. Practice “Lights Out” during the migration season.
This fall on the autumnal equinox, on a flight out of MSP airport, there was a significant difference between the Twin Cities. St. Paul was entirely dark except for the Saints baseball field. We could barely make out the ghostly white capitol. Minneapolis was lit up like it had never heard of the “Lights Out” program.
Information for this article came from the Portland Audubon website: https://audubonportland.org/our-work/protect/habitat-and-wildlife/urban/reducing-wildlife-hazards/bird-safe-building/. Refer to it for more ideas!
To read about Audubon’s Lights Out Program, go to: https://www.audubon.org/lights-out-program
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