Evaluating the drivers of bird-window collisions in North America
Contact: Stephen B. Hager, Department of Biology, Augustana College: stevehager@augustana.edu, 309.794.3439; Bradley J. Consentino, Department of Biology, Hobard and William Smith Colleges, cosentino@hws.edu
Initiated: 2013
Project Status: Concluded. No longer accepting collaborators.
Description
Birds that reside in urban settings face numerous human-related threats to survival, including mortality from bird-window collisions (BWCs). Recent work has demonstrated that the primary drivers of BWCs are the amount of windows in a building and proportion of development, which create spatial variation in BWCs within urban landscapes. However, we currently have a biased understanding of the spatial aspects of BWCs because previous research has been confined to large commercial and high-rise buildings located in areas important for bird migration, such as
along major migratory pathways.
From conservation and legal perspectives, recent litigation against persons accused of being responsible for BWCs has prompted the need for effective policy that assists interested parties (e.g., building owners and architects) in dealing with the issue of collision mortality. Thus, understanding the determinants of collision risk across spatial scales is crucial for predicting local and regional mortality, which would (1) better inform existing policy and (2) focus future building design and conservation efforts aimed at reducing collision-related impacts.
Hypotheses/Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that the pattern and magnitude of BWCs among urban areas reflect landscape structure and functional connectivity. For example, sites in large cities settled along migratory pathways should display high variation in BWCs, whereas low variation in BWCs might be expected at towns consisting of only relatively small buildings (i.e., low window area) outside of major migratory routes.
Summary of Methods: Collaborators evaluated BWCs at their home institutions from a minimum of six buildings that varied in size and were surrounded by differing levels of vegetation. Surveys for bird carcasses were completed during the fall migratory season, which coincides with peak mortality.
Expanded project info:
- Click HERE for a more detailed project description.
- Click HERE to access research protocols related to selecting study buildings, conducting carcass surveys, and measuring variables hypothesized to affect BWCs.
Curriculum: To incorporate this project’s protocol and instructional materials into your college classes (e.g., Ecology, Conservation Biology, Ornithology, etc.) or as part of an internships or independent research experience, review the project overview and protocols (linked above) and click HERE for instructor materials, including a case study on BWCs, Journal Club workshop, and GIS exercise.
Other Project Materials: Click HERE to view an interactive web map that displays collaborator locations and institutions.
Publications:
Elmore et al. (2020) Correlates of bird collisions with buildings across three North American countries. Conservation Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13569
Check out the story about this research on The Wildlife Society’s site