Birds vs. Glass
Winter in NE Illinois finds many of us lingering in a comfy chair, cup of hot coffee warming our hands as we bird watch through the recently cleaned glass of a sunny, or not so sunny window. We don’t want to think about the fine feather dust wing imprint that the Mourning Dove left as it crashed into the window and died on our patio. Odds are you cleaned many bits of feather and dander off your windows as winter approached just to realize the windows are ‘dirty’ again.
We wax on about the devastation that cats inflict on our beloved bird population, but the imprint of a bird wing on a window, evidence of a collision and the resulting bird death seems unavoidable. Birds fly into windows. People need windows. Sad….but avoidable. LCAS member Wanda Supanich has researched options for window treatments to prevent bird collisions on residential buildings. Use the button below to read more about her experiences with various products. She will be at the March 4 program meeting with samples from manufacturers and available for questions.
Dr Dan Klem, of Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, has spent fifty years studying bird collisions with glass. He writes there is a mountain of evidence that suggests effective ways to help birds avoid the reflective surfaces in our environment. News of huge numbers of migrating bird deaths at McCormick Place was devastating for bird lovers this past fall. Dr Klem’s research proves that more birds are killed in residential glass collisions than in collisions with skyscrapers. That data should make all birders sit up and take notice. Birds see reflections of sky, trees and shrubs in the windows of our homes and think they can fly through it. Much like a mirror, reflections of the natural world appear convincingly on our windows. Curtains do not reduce collisions. Curtains serve as a backdrop for the realistic reflections of the surrounding landscape. During mating season, aggressive birds attack their reflections trying to drive away competition, often resulting in injury to themselves. Bird feeders are usually located where we can watch from inside. When a predator approaches, birds scatter in all directions, many directly into the nearby window. Feeder placement can help reduce bird vs glass collisions. Feeders farther away from windows allow birds to gain speed as they try to escape the predator causing more forceful and deadly collisions. Feeders placed within a couple of feet of a window will reduce the speed the birds reach before a window strike. This results in fewer deadly crashes, but does not eliminate the risk. Not all windows are deadly. If your house is anything like mine, there are only two large windows out of twenty-one that kill birds. These two windows are the only ones that need alteration. This realization makes the thought of change much less monumental...and less expensive. The current solution to bird vs window deaths is the application of patterns to the exterior of windows that the birds see and avoid. One key factor to the success of any of the available products is how far apart the patterns are placed. I have tried applying decals, soap and paint to large windows in my home that are frequent bird killers. None of my attempts were effective because I unknowingly left too much untreated glass. Still, I found looking around the few randomly placed white bird decals to be a bit irritating. There is also the question of aesthetics. Do I really want the large window at the front of my house to look like mygranddaughter was turned loose with finger paint?
Window films still allow you to enjoy the view from your comfy chair and give you the satisfaction that you are not killing birds that visit your yard. A consistent pattern, applied to the entire window, lends an intentional look of uniformity and purpose. Some of the products drastically change the way the windows look from the outside, some are much less visible to us. Some products allow usable light into the room, so plants on window sills can receive necessary sunlight. There are also products that block the heat of summer sun. Patterns should be applied to the OUTSIDE of windows in 2”X2” or 4”X4” spacing to effectively prevent collisions. There are many options to choose from. It is time to get up out of your comfy chair and take action. Protect the birds we love from the windows we also love. Here are some sources of window treatments: All Products listed are applied to the OUTSIDE of the windows.
Feather Friendly Bird Do-it-yourself Tape Applied in2”x4” patterns. Very inexpensive. Lasts 4-8 years. (A knock off of CollidEscape) featherfriendly.com
WindowAlert UV Decals and UV Liquid. Easily applied, these products reflect UV light that birds can see. The highest rates of success in preventing bird strikes are achieved when decals and the liquid are used together with 2” x 4” spacing. windowalert.com
CollidEscape is a Wisconsin company that has been in business for 26 years. They are a nonprofit company. Their window films come in “full coverage screens” which are the most effective at preventing window strikes and “dots or stripes” that are slightly less effective but discourage most window strikes. Many patterns and colors are available. Lasts for decades. Samples of CollidEscape products will be available at in person meetings so you can get a better idea of what some of the options are. collidescape.org
Birds deserve a better chance to survive in our neighborhoods. It is up to us to change our window reflections to a less naturally attractive killer. You know you need to do.
Wanda Supanich
Libertyville, Ill
Information for this article came from Solid Air Invisible Killer: Saving Billions of Birds from Windows by Daniel Klem, Jr. with help from Jeff L. Rank, Specialty Program Manager-CollidEscape