Window strikes kill millions of birds. Please help them avoid it.
A summer tanager visiting my Sandy Springs backyard. Photo by Annemarie Smith.
Here in Sandy Springs, we are fortunate to live among many trees. The greenery around us also provides habitat to a wide variety of endemic songbirds. Unfortunately, the birds around us sometimes see the reflection of their habitat in our windows and try to fly through them to enter that habitat. This causes the birds to collide with the window and the consequences can be deadly. It has been estimated that bird window strikes kill many millions of birds every year in the United States. This is devastating to bird populations that are already declining due to habitat loss and other stressors.
I have noticed that these window strikes seem to increase in the Spring and Fall during bird migration, as birds that are naïve to the local environment are passing through our area.
There are products that you can apply to your windows that make the window panes more visible to birds by disrupting the reflection of their habitat. A company called CollidEscape has a variety of products that can be applied to windows to reduce the frequency of window strikes. The company also has products that they say will prevent all bird collisions. Costs and visual impacts to the windows vary between the reduce vs. prevent collision products. WindowAlert is a company that makes a variety of cling decals can be purchased at Wild Birds Unlimited or any number of online retailers. I have both the CollideEscape dots and WindowAlert decals on different windows of my home. Bird window strikes have diminished significantly since I applied them.
Habitat reflected in a large window pane and the CollidEscape dots that help make the window more visible to birds. Photo by Annemarie Smith.
Occasionally, I still hear that sickening thud of a bird striking a window. When that happens, I jump into action to assess the situation and help the stunned or injured bird.
I always have a simple and effective bird rehabilitation kit at the ready. This consists of a lidded shoebox with air holes in it and newspaper on the bottom. If I find a dazed bird on the ground, I gently pick it up and place it in the shoe box and cover with the lid.
The next step is to place the box in a dark, quiet place for the next 30 to 60 minutes. During the colder months, I use a windowless powder room for my bird recovery room, and I close the door so they can’t hear the noise of my household. During warmer weather you can use a dark corner of your garage.
I believe that the darkness and the quiet allow the bird to recover from it's head injury by minimizing stimulation to the brain. By placing the bird in a box you are also giving it protection from predators while it is in a dazed and vulnerable state. Do not attempt to give the bird food or water during it’s recovery time in the box. What it needs is rest and protection.
Check on the box every 10 to 15 minutes or so and just listen for movement. Do not open the box inside the house. Usually, if the bird is just stunned, you will start to hear some skittering around in the box after a while. This is a good sign. When the skittering is persistent, it is time to take the box outside and open the lid. The bird will fly away and you’ve done your part to help it recover.
I have done this dazed-bird-in-a-box routine many times over the years and I estimate that I have a live release rate of about 95%. I learned about this method of helping birds while volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation facility as a student.
If, after an hour, your injured bird is still alive but not well enough to be released then it’s time to reach out to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. The nearest licensed rehabilitator to Sandy Springs is Wild Nest Bird Rehab (https://www.wildnestbirdrehab.org/). You can find contact instructions on their website should you need to drop off an injured bird for further rehabilitation. Outside of Sandy Springs, you can check the website Animal Help Now (ahnow.org) to find a rehabilitator near you.
I hope you’ll consider helping birds by making your windows more visible to them and having a rehabilitation kit ready the next time you hear that terrible thud.