Bird Safe Initiative
by Jeff Gamble
Nature Regina launched its Bird Safe Initiative (BSI) in late 2020 with a goal to save some of the one billion birds that die each year in North America from colliding with windows; that is a billion with a “b”.
Birds collide with windows because they do not see glass as a solid surface. For the same reason, humans love to fill their commercial and residential spaces with as much glass as possible. Sadly, the unobstructed views glass offers create grave danger for birds. Fortunately, there are easy, effective, and affordable ways for homeowners and businesses alike to mitigate the danger.
The BSI program aims to raise awareness in our community to bird window collisions and to offer ways to mitigate this issue.
During spring and fall migration, BSI volunteers meet in downtown Regina in the early morning to collect and log data from the evidence of bird collisions we encounter. This small survey sample provides great insight on the extent of the problem.
To date we have found 160 birds dead or injured from colliding with windows. As of spring 2023, we have rescued 30 birds representing some 40 different species. With approximately 160 hours of volunteer time dedicated to the project we know that we are finding one bird each hour.
We know large commercial glass buildings are the deadliest, but we also know all glass poses a threat. When we speak with homeowners, we find that most are familiar with the dull thud of a bird striking a window. Most know which window the bird has struck. Both anecdotally and objectively, we know our bird populations are in danger from all window collisions.
The dead birds we collect are logged into a digital database called the Global Collision Bird Mapper which is a Canadian initiative sponsored by Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada. Any birder, citizen scientist, or nature lover can easily use this site to log a bird strike.
Nature Regina also collects the dead birds and donates them to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) where they are used for in-house scientific research. Anyone can contact the RSM for further details on donating dead birds.
Nature Regina volunteers collect the injured birds and take them to Salthaven West, Regina’s volunteer driven wildlife rehabilitation group. Salthaven will happily offer assistance to anyone who finds an injured bird.
Reducing the number of bird window collisions is not as difficult as one might think: make glass highly visible to birds and minimally visible to people. Scientific research has discovered that windows covered in small dots in 2-inch grids are highly visible to birds and almost completely eliminate bird window collisions. Currently there are affordable products available that minimally impair a person’s view. These products are less visible than a window screen, a blind, or a dirty window and dramatically reduce the threat that windows create for our bird populations.
Nature Regina encourages all homeowners and businesses who want to addressa problem window to contact us for more information. We recommend a product called Feather Friendly which is easy to apply, effective and affordable. Contact us at natureregina@gmail.com to purchase the tape or if you are interested in volunteering to help collect data.