Collision

I discovered something unexpected and distressing last weekend while putzing at Loveless. Two dead birds on the future back deck. They apparently flew smack into the weeHouse windows.

Seems one of the coolest things about the place – seeing right through it to the woods and lake – creates a deadly optical illusion for the birds.

The Audubon Society says such collisions are a major cause of avian mortality. Could it be true that 100 million birds die each year this way?

Now I’m digging into research on how to avoid such a fate in the future. Not much of a surprise that those cutout decals of hawks don’t work. But it sounds like there are window films and other products that claim to help birds avoid the glass. And maybe when we put curtains up, that’ll help.

Turns out that the Minneapolis Public Library – one of the coolest new buildings to go up downtown in decades– was designed as a bird-friendly building, with patterns on the glass and trees planted close to the building so the birds wouldn't get a running start.




Minneapolis Central Library / Rick Prescott