On this episode Dr. Daniel Klem and I talk about his long career as an ornithologist, and especially about his research, passion and recent book about the widely underappreciated deaths of birds from collisions with glass. The title of his book captures the essence and magnitude of the issue.

Birds have incredible vision. They can see a wider spectrum of colors, including some wavelengths of UV light invisible to human eyes. They can see a wider field of vision, with significantly greater visual acuity, and in dimmer light than humans. That said, they cannot see glass panes for what they are, and collisions with glass, which to them must seem like “solid air”, kill unimmaginable numbers of birds annually. Dr. Klem talks about all of this and more in his book, which I encourage you to buy.
Here are just a few amazing facts to put the magnitude and importance in perspective.
-Unlike predators, storms, and natural causes of death, glass collisions kill indiscriminately. The fittest and the weakest of birds are equally likely to die from glass collisions. Research has shown that adult, immature, healthy and sick birds all crash into glass proportionately.
-The issue is not with skyscrapers. Very few birds die in migration by crashing into the tops of skyscrapers. The issue is with residential and commercial buildings in places where birds live. The big risk is glass in areas where there are a lot of birds living, like homes, schools, businesses etc.
-Between 370 Million and 1 billion birds die of collisions with glass annually. For perspective this is on the low end >1 million birds daily! The number of birds killed in the Exxon Valdez oil spill die DAILY from glass collisions!

If this sounds hopeless, take heart. There are real, relatively inexpensive things you can do to reduce the bird deaths in your yard. It is not putting falcon decals on your windows! Here are some options:
-Use decals for your windows available at Feather Friendly.
-Use Acopian Bird Saver cords. You can buy them or make your own, see video below.
-For new construction use bird safe windows, for example AviProtek windows.
-Become an activist in your community.
-Place bird feeders <1 meter from windows to prevent birds using the feeders from gaining enough speed to hit windows at lethal speeds.

There is just too much to write for just the blog post, and I encourage you to read the book to become an informed advocate.
Thanks for listening.
Good birding and good day!