Bird-Safe Glass Working Group

Introduction:   Ornithologists have estimated that as many as one billion birds are killed every year in the United States due to collisions with glass, and some fear the total may be even higher. The mortality for neotropical migrant birds will only intensify as cities along the Eastern flyway grow, and more glass skyscrapers, residential and office buildings, are erected in and around our city. Unfortunately for birds, recent worldwide trends in architecture have been to incorporate large expanses of transparent and/or reflective glass into the construction of buildings that are also getting taller. Glass and lights have emerged as major threats to migratory bird populations, second only to habitat loss for more than 150 species, many of which have been identified as having populations in decline.

Background:   Plate glass windows were developed after the Second World War and shortly afterwards began to be used widely in the construction of residential and commercial buildings. In the following decades there began to be reports of birds being killed from collisions with windows, and theories and research began to emerge to describe and explain this phenomenon. Based on published research findings by Daniel Klem, PhD., ornithologist and Professor of Biology at Muhlenberg College, and others, we now know that birds fly into windows because they cannot see glass. Transparency and reflectivity, which are the very qualities that make plate glass so appealing to human beings, are also those that make it so lethal to birds. Experiments have shown that unless dense visual “noise” can be created on or near to expanses of glass, birds will die, and be killed in unacceptably high numbers, in collisions with glass.

Response:   NYC Audubon is spearheading the Bird-Safe Glass Working Group (BSGWG) to promote the development and use of a new type of glass that will be transparent to people but visible to birds. Many prominent organizations and individuals have joined together to achieve this goal with the advice and support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The group includes bird advocacy and conservation organizations from across North America, as well as architects, planners, scientists, glass artists, and the Humane Society of the United States working to find funding for the cutting-edge science that will product a long-term solution to a major threat to migratory birds. Hillary Brown, AIA, Principal, New Civic Works and BSGWG [member] [advisor], is developing building construction, operation and landscape design guidelines that NYC Audubon will advocate for adoption by the U.S. Green Building Council for use in the LEED certification process.