Save a bird’s life today: Safer windows are worth the small cost

On a recent October Sunday morning, I was wrapping up a workout on the local high school track when I noticed an unusual ball of fluff flapping in lane 5. Closer inspection revealed the puffball was a dark-eyed junco, wings akimbo, stunned and most definitely not where small birds ought to be. I approached, hopeful it might fly off. When it didn’t, I carefully gathered it in my hands.

The junco didn’t fight me, a bad sign, nor did I feel much of a heartbeat, another bad sign. Regardless, I brought it to a shaded grassy area off the track, thinking perhaps it might regain its strength. Instead, it expired almost as soon as I placed it on the ground, its eyes rolling upward as its body went still.

The junco is not among the 500 bird species facing extinction in the United States (that’s 12% of our 4,230 native species), though populations of “common” birds including it are declining. This trackside fatality, and many like it, was preventable. Of the many possible causes that lead to bird death, in this case I suspected a window strike, likely a fly-in with one of the many windows gracing the adjacent high school.

This wasn’t the first bird I’ve watched die after flying into a window, but I hope my fellow Americans will be willing to help prevent more of these untimely deaths. Published research estimates that nearly one billion birds die from hitting windows in the United States every year. Of those birds, 50% die from their injuries. (Other major bird killers? Outdoor cats and habitat loss.) Birds most likely to collide with windows include black and white warblers, brown creepers and dark-eyed juncos.

Besides filling the air with beautiful melodies, birds pollinate, exterminate pests, and provide pecuniary benefits to local economies. According to an analysis published in 2016 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 45 million birders in the United States spend about $40 billion annually on things like bird food, birding equipment and traveling to see fine feathered creatures. The University of Alaska and Audubon Alaska recently found that birders provide the Frontier State with an annual economic boost to the tune of more than $370 million dollars. Birders who flock to witness the annual migration of the ruby-throated hummingbird in South Texas feather the local economy with an estimated $1 million.

Preventing bird strikes in urban and suburban areas will help stabilize populations across the country and benefit rural communities dependent on avian-related tourism.

We don’t have to demolish our buildings to save our birds. Window collisions happen because some birds, unlike humans, perceive reflections as actual physical objects. A large pane of glass reflecting a lush lawn or trees looks like a real landscape. And, unlike humans, birds don’t learn to tell the difference.

To prevent birds from hitting windows, windows need to become more visible to birds. Solutions are simple and affordable — we’re talking about maybe $20 — such as strips of chart tape or small patterned decals taped to a window’s exterior. Wind chimes and screens will work, too. Some homeowners may complain that preventing bird strikes will mar the view offered by seamless panes of glass, but there’s a UV liquid that, once applied, dries clear and is only visible to birds. These minimally intrusive acts can dramatically reduce bird collisions.

Saving birds must involve city dwellers, especially since many bird strikes occur with low-rise buildings between four and 11 stories high. NYC Audubon estimates that 90,000 to 200,000 birds die each year from window collisions in New York City alone. People renting in these buildings can make a difference even if their landlords don’t care to be part of the solution: Window decals affixed to the interior work just as well as exterior ones. And at night, turning out the lights and closing blinds will signal to migrating birds that they can’t fly through.

Small steps like these save the lives of creatures that are vital to larger ecosystems and beautiful in their own right. And while each of us does our part, municipalities can respond to the crisis as well. New York City, where a high number of bird strikes happen, is making strides to reduce them, notably through Project Safe Flight and the passage of bird-friendly legislation in 2020. Some Manhattan buildings have become success stories worth crowing about, like the Javits Center, which went from being a notorious bird killer to becoming one of the most bird-friendly structures in the city.

The poet William Blake wrote that “no bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.” We just need to steer them away from invisible glass.

Basbanes Richter lives in Larchmont, N.Y. and is the founder of In Ink Ghostwriting.