Reducing Bird Deaths
Maggard is a Senior at Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, and serves as a Director for YEPT.
Have you ever heard or seen a bird hit a window? Unfortunately, this is a very common occurrence. Over one billion birds die each year in the United States due to collisions with windows, according to the Bird Alliance of Oregon. 829 bird-building collisions have occurred at IUI (Indiana University Indianapolis) in just two years, with an average of 413 collisions per year.
At IUI, Dr. Victoria Schmalhofer, Assistant Director of CEES (Center for Earth and Environmental Science) is working with students to conduct a Bird Strike Project. They survey 18 buildings all over IUI’s campus once a day during the summer and winter, and 2-3 times a day during the spring and fall. Those who are surveying walk around the entire perimeter of their assigned buildings and scan the campus floor for birds who may have hit the windows. They carefully photograph and collect the dead birds, and submit their data digitally. As for surveying the parking garages, members walk up and down the stairwells to look for trapped birds. If any are found, they prop a door open in order to assist the bird in escaping the garage.
The relatively obvious answer of why birds hit windows as often as they do is that the windows are invisible to the birds; however, there is so much more to it. Male birds sometimes believe their reflection is another male in their territory and may try to attack, injuring or even killing themselves. In an email interview, Dr. Schmalhofer added some further reasoning: “The higher number of strikes in fall is due to many more birds migrating, compared to spring, and the fact that many of those fall migrants are young birds making their first migration. Inexperience leads to greater risk. The high number in summer is due to young birds learning to fly.”
The primary goal of the Bird Strike project is to determine where and when bird-building collisions occur on campus. Once completed, the data will be summarized and turned over to the Office of Sustainability and the Office of Capitol Planning & Facilities. The hope after the data is shared is for steps to be taken to make campus more bird friendly, specifically, using dot decals to make windows more obvious.
Schmalhofer also states that this project is important because “They [birds] play many roles in their respective ecosystems.” Birds are important as mid-level predators, therefore, any negative environmental impacts that affect other parts of their ecosystem, such as insects, will likely affect the birds as well. In short, easy monitoring is important to quickly identify environmental problems.
Furthermore, birds are important for pest control, seed dispersal, pollination, population control, and more, all of which could disrupt an ecosystem immensely. Schmalhofer added that “Over the past 50 years, bird populations in North America have declined by 30%, the decline has come from habitat loss, declining food sources, and other factors. However, bird-building collisions are number 2 on the list of bird mortality rates…Taking steps to reduce bird-building collisions will help sustain bird populations.”
Decal dots on windows like these pictured above can reduce bird strikes. Photo by Kristin Bingham, a Naturalist at Holliday Park in Indianapolis.
It is important to maintain bird biodiversity and the general biodiversity of other species as well. However, maintaining biodiversity begins with reducing bird mortality. As for the effect on human life, ecosystem services include breathable atmosphere, pollutant removal, water purification, nutrient cycling, raw materials, etc. If a species goes extinct, a chain of drastic effects all the way up to humans could and most likely would occur. Recognizing these problems and pushing for a change allows more people to become action-oriented and make a difference.
The CEES website states: “The survey is being done as part of the Center's environmental stewardship Service Learning program, but all members of the IU Indianapolis community are welcome to join.” If you find a bird on campus at IUI, it is recommended that you report it to their website, Bird Strike Data. It asks for simple information including a date and time as well as the location — specifically, the building and which side of the building — so that it can be “incorporated into the study” as Schmalhofer stated.
It is recommended that if birds are found off campus they should be reported to your local Audubon Society. The local chapter in Indianapolis is called the Amos Butler Audubon Society. They track bird-building collisions during spring and fall migrations. If you’re located outside of Indiana, bird strikes can also be reported on the Global Collision Mapper platform.
As Schmalhofer said, they are hoping for decal dots. However, there are many other options, including but not limited to: insect screens, tape, strings, paint, cords and anything that creates a pattern that is visible or protective. Stay mindful and make your difference. Change their future as well as ours.
More information about the CEES Bird Strike Project can be found here.
