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B.I.R.D. Initiative

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City skylines defined by shimmering glass towers can be beautiful, but they can also be deadly to birds lost in the sunny reflections of the glass. The same is true in cottage country, when a big bay window reflecting the forest can play tricks on birds.

According to FLAP Canada, ornithologists can now identify collisions with human-built structures to be a leading cause of death for birds in North America. Every year, approximately 25 million birds fatally collide into the windows of homes, offices, stores, cottages and buildings in Canada. During National Wildlife Week (April 7 – 13) CWF encourages you to take action during our Bird Impact Reduction Day (B.I.R.D.) initiative, a day designed to raise awareness of the problem of bird/ building collisions and to share ways we can all help reverse this threat to our winged species.

You can take your own simple steps throughout the year to help reduce bird collisions with windows. Windows can deceive birds, reflecting trees or skies or even tempting them with indoor plants seen through clean, clear glass. Whether you live in a detached home, a semi, an apartment, a condo or townhome, you can help reduce bird collisions by making all your windows more visible to birds. Installing visual cues or markers on the glass helps alert them to the presence of glass barriers.

Birds that don’t die on impact can be injured, becoming easy prey for predators. Do your part to help keep birds safe.

adolescent oriale bird

The Problem

Tall commercial structures can experience bird collisions both day and night.

Studies conclude that 1 to 10 birds collide with building windows each day. Toronto has over 940,000 registered structures with glass. This means that Toronto alone has the potential to kill between 1 to 10 million birds annually.

bird migration patterns

Nighttime

  • Some 250 North American bird species are known to migrate at night
  • The bright light of tall buildings can disorient birds and attract them toward our built environments.
  • Once in a brightly lit area, birds hesitate to fly back into the darkness.
  • Birds tend to flutter within the lit areas until they drop from exhaustion. Some collide outright with the lit buildings. Some collide with each other.
  • Nighttime collisions can occur at any height of a lighted structure
  • Nighttime strikes can be higher where urban centres skirt large bodies of water.
  • Light escaping interior office spaces or floodlighting building exterior surfaces both attract birds.
  • Spots lights projected up into the night sky can also attract birds.

Daytime

  • Daytime collisions far outnumber nighttime collisions.
  • Bird collisions with windows during the day is a leading cause of bird death across Canada, second only to cat attacks.
  • Homes account for over 90% of these deaths.
  • Observations by FLAP Canada bird rescue volunteers conclude that the vast majority of daytime collisions at commercial structure tend to occur up to 16 metres above grade.
geese flying

The Solution

Things you can do to help save the lives of birds:

  1. Turn off work space lights when not in use.
  2. Draw blinds and/or drapes when working at night.
  3. Work with downward angled task lighting and turn off overhead lights.
  4. Urge your building manger to invest in motion-sensor lighting technologies.
  5. Urge your building manager to extinguish all architectural, landscape and roof-top lighting during bird migration seasons: March through May and August through October.
  6. Urge your building manager to initiate an educational program to promote light reduction strategies to help save bird lives -- money -- and reduce CO2 emissions.
  7. Urge your building manager to invest in bird deterrent technologies for daytime window collisions that meet FLAP Canada's Standard for Visual Markers http://flap.org/commercial_new.php
  8. Urge your local Councillor to adopt BirdSafe™ Building Guidelines and Standards in your community (see the City of Markham's Bird Friendly Guidelines).
  9. At home, apply visual markers to your windows that meet FLAP Canada's Standard for Visual Markers.
  10. Place bird feeder(s) 1 metre or less OR 10 metres or more from your windows and keep your cats indoors.

Download Step-by-Step Instructions

save the birds project PDF

Log Your Observations!

The Canadian Wildlife Federation wants your help in keeping track of collisions between birds and buildings. Our B.I.R.D. initiative is designed to help track the instances of bird deaths caused by collisions.

Learn More

wild about birds plants

Help Birds At Home

CWF has introduced the new WILD About Birds tree and shrub collection. These trees and shrubs are chosen specifically for the benefits they offer to Canada’s declining bird populations. They join the CWF line of Medallion Pollinator Plant kits as a way to grow wildlife-friendly gardens. Plant them this spring and you could qualify for official CWF Garden Habitat Certification. Available exclusively at participating Home Depot locations across Canada.

Buy Now

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