Bird-window Collision Art

Aren’t birds great? They offer us humans countless hours of entertainment, sources of artistic inspiration and spiritual-significance in our faith systems₁. They’re also great because of all the free ecosystem services they provide us including: pollination, seed dispersal, forest building and consumption of disease carrying insects₂.

However, approximately 25 million birds perish annually in Canada as a result of window collisions₃. For many species, birds are thought to collide with windows because of the lateral placement of their eyes₄. In most cases, when your eyes are located on the sides of your head, your depth perception and resolution suffers₄. This means birds in flight struggle to detect glass as a barrier when it is transparent or reflecting surrounding habitat₅.

Upon impact, birds usually meet one of two fates: instant death or temporary disorientation_5,6. Disoriented and immobilized birds are then vulnerable to lurking domestic cats or other scavengers_5,6.

Although the extent to which bird-window collisions exactly impact our bird populations is still uncertain₇, we now know how to prevent or minimize mortalities₈. And I’ll give you a hint, the solution isn’t handing out eyeglasses to birds.

So, if you love birds and want to learn more about bird-window collisions and what you can do to prevent them visit FLAP Canada at http://www.flap.org.





Sources:

[1] Belaire, J. A., Westphal, L. M., Whelan, C. J., & Minor, E. S. (2015). Urban residents’ perceptions of birds in the neighborhood: Biodiversity, cultural ecosystem services, and disservices. The Condor, 117(2), 192–202. https://doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-14- 128.1

[2] Şekercioğlu, Ç. H., & Wenny, D. G. (2015). Why birds matter: from economic ornithology to ecosystem services. Journal of Ornithology, 156(S1), 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1229-y

[3] Machtans, C. S., Wedeles, C. H. R., & Bayne, E. M. (2013). A first estimate for Canada of the number of birds killed by colliding with building windows. Avian Conservation and Ecology, 8(2), 6. https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-00568-080206

[4] Martin, G. R. (2011). Understanding bird collisions with man-made objects: A sensory ecology approach. Ibis, 153(2), 239–254. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2011.01117.x

[5] Klem, D. (1989). Bird-Window Collisions. Wilson Bulletin, 101(4), 606–620 https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1676/08-118.1

[6] Audubon, New York City. (2007). Bird-safe building guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.nycaudubon.org/pdf/BirdSafeBuildingGuidelines.pdf

[7] Arnold, T. W., & Zink, R. M. (2011). Collision mortality has no discernible effect on population trends of North American birds. PLoS ONE, 6(9), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024708

[8] Klem, D. (2009). Preventing Bird — Window Collisions. The Wilson Bulletin, 121(2), 314–321. https://doi.org/10.1676/08-118.1