Jason did a great job of summing up risk factors for collision risks but
I'll still put my 2 cents in on the topic of bird collisions with
glass/buildings. It is so sad and so overlooked.
For folks finding birds killed by glass, Lights Out DC and Lights Out
Baltimore are seeking to raise awareness locally on the danger that glass
poses to birds. You can reach Lights Out DC at if you
want to report your findings. They would also welcome folks monitoring
either along their route or at other locations (you don't need to do it
every day). We can always use more monitors in Baltimore too. We walk
approx 4-5 miles in the early morning. It's a great way to get exercise and
learn about birds close up.
In Baltimore we have been monitoring since Fall 2008 and have observed over
1000 dead, injured, and compromised birds along our monitoring route and at
other locations around the city. As Jason said, the American Bird
Conservancy has been working extremely hard on this issue. Jason is the
clear film available yet? A clear film visible to birds will be helpful to
getting buildings to fix the problem, as most building owners find the
"visual noise" currently required to stop bird collisions aesthetically
unacceptable. I urge anyone who works at a building killing birds to
educate the decisionmakers on the problem so at least they are aware of the
issue.
Ironically, the building where we find the most birds along our route
downtown in Baltimore is one of the lowest buildings along our route. It is
2 stories high. The building is made of clear glass and pretty much nothing
else except for one brick side. We have found approx 372 dead and injured
birds at this building. This includes some casual observations prior to
2008. There are definitely "hotspots" at the site, we definitely find most
in areas where there are trees/shrubs/water nearby.
It's also important to note that this is not just something that happens
during migration - Swarthmore College is referenced in this article
(http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/features0403/alert.html) as having lost
a campus breeding population of hummingbirds to glass. They fixed the
problem according to the article.
There has been progress in bird-friendly design (thanks to the hard work of
ABC and other regional organizations). If anyone wants to read about
developments (and see a picture of a recently-released, LOVELY
Yellow-breasted Chat that LOB volunteers Keith Costley and Judy Harding
rescued downtown and got to Phoenix Wildlife Center), take a look at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lights-Out-Baltimore-a-Project-of-the-Baltimore-Bird-Club/215882348432664?sk=wall
Recent busy days in Baltimore were Oct 2, 5, 6, or 7. The lists below
include birds found along our Baltimore route and at a Baltimore hospital
complex building that is 2 stories tall and that has large windows that
trick birds into thinking they can fly right through the building. Pardon
the entries that show "unidentified", we are still tallying/ID'ing our
results.
10/2/2011
American Woodcock 1 dead
Common Yellowthroat 5 dead, 1 taken to rehabilitator
Undentified 1 dead
Gray Catbird 4 dead
Ovenbird 2 dead
Wood Thrush 1 dead
10/5/2011
(there were also 5 taken to a rehabilitator not on the list yet. We are
still tallying)
Black-throated Green 1 dead
Common Yellowthroat 4 dead
Gray Catbird 3 dead
Lincoln's Sparrow 2 dead
Ovenbird 2 dead
Tennessee Warbler 2 dead
White-throated sparrow 2 dead
10/6/2011
Black-throated Green 1 dead
Brown Thrasher 1 dead, 1 compromised
Common Yellowthroat 1 compromised, 4 dead
Gray Catbird 2 dead, 1 taken to rehabilitator
Marsh Wren 1 taken to rehabilitator
Ovenbird 1 dead, 1 taken to rehabilitator
Scarlet Tanager 1 dead
Song Sparrow 1 dead
Unidentified Warbler 1 dead
White-throated Sparrow 1 compromised, 8 dead, 1 taken to rehabilitator
10/7/2011
Common Yellowthroat 1 taken to rehabilitator
Eastern Towhee 1 dead
FLYCATCHER 1 taken to rehabilitator
Lincoln's Sparrow 2 dead
Ovenbird 1 dead
Swainson's Thrush 1 taken to rehabilitator
Wendy Olsson
Baltimore, MD
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Pisano" <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 1:16 PM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Building strikes
> This week I had the misfortune of finding 2 dead birds at the base of my
> office building - the U.S. DOT HQ in SE DC. The first was on Monday and
> was a NORTHERN PARULA. The second was this morning and was a
> YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. I think there were others lat night because I
> found an unusual feather (secondary?) of varying shades of brown, as
> well as a small mound of unidetifiable body feathers at two other spots.
> The secondary? could have been from the cuckoo, but was kind of far
> from the rest of the remains. Actually, the "remains" only consisted of
> a head, so clearly other factors are at play here. I'm surprised that I
> found both of them this week as: 1) it's getting late in the season so
> the number of migrants at all is going down, and 2) these are the first
> I've ever found here. Why I haven't found others earlier in the season
> is unclear to me (though might have something to do with the fact that I
> drive a few days a week, which doesn't have me walking along this
> stretch of the building - except this week when I took metro 4 of the 5
> days).
>
> Has anyone ever recorded a pattern between building strikes and the
> migration season? I'm sure that they've looked at weather, but Sunday
> night and Thursday night were very different in that respect (if I
> recall correctly). Just thinking out loud, perhaps later migrants are
> weaker, which means they might not fly as high (and hence more prone to
> hitting buildings)? I don't know, that's probably connecting dots that
> don't exist, but just has me wondering. Interestingly enough, this
> building is not even the highest in this area, and it not much higher
> than the building immediately across the street.
>
> BTW, this is my second dead cuckoo this fall though the other was a Ft.
> Dupont as was clearly not related to striking a building.
>
> Good birding,
> Paul Pisano
> Arlington, VA
>
>
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