Glass collisions take a staggering toll on birds, affecting rare and common species, migratory and resident birds, and species as varied as woodcocks and warblers. They also happen anywhere glass is present, not just on large skyscrapers in downtown areas. In fact, nearly half of collisions occur at buildings that are 1-3 stories tall, including homes, and most collisions with tall buildings happen at the lower floors.
Birds collide with glass all year, but the pace picks up during spring and fall migration when huge waves of birds are on the move to or from their breeding grounds. Because most birds migrate at night, collisions are most likely to occur in the early morning as the birds drop down lower to scout out a good place to refuel following their long journey.
We are tackling this conservation crisis head-on, working on multiple fronts to advocate for policies that make buildings safer for birds, research and test solutions to prevent collisions at home, give the public tools they can use to advocate for change, and provide support and resources for designers, architects, and building managers to envision bird-friendly buildings in the planning stage or retrofit existing buildings.
Learn more about ABC’s research and evaluation program, which safely uses real birds to test bird-safe glass collision solutions and provide Threat FactorTM ratings.
ABC’s Glass Collisions program is leading the way in finding solutions to this problem that plagues birds both common and rare throughout the year, wherever they are.
