WEBVTT - Why Do Birds Fly Into Windows?

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.320
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:10.960
<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogobam. Here, you're working away next

0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:13.960
<v Speaker 1>to a window when you hear a thunk. You look

0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.440
<v Speaker 1>up just in time to see a poor wee birdie

0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.880
<v Speaker 1>stunned and falling away from the glass. Or maybe you've

0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.960
<v Speaker 1>found a disoriented, injured, or even dead little feathered friend

0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:27.960
<v Speaker 1>who's obviously crashed into a nearby window. Poor buddy. You

0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:32.360
<v Speaker 1>think they don't know what glasses, Well, that's kind of

0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:36.040
<v Speaker 1>the case, but it's not the whole story. And during

0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:40.120
<v Speaker 1>daylight hours, those windows reflect sky and trees and other

0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:44.320
<v Speaker 1>pleasant things. The birds think those reflections are continuation of

0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.440
<v Speaker 1>the landscape, so they try to fly into it. It

0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:51.120
<v Speaker 1>does not work out well for them. At night, the

0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.240
<v Speaker 1>light from inside our homes and buildings shines through the windows,

0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:57.680
<v Speaker 1>and the birds try to fly inside for shelter. That

0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.840
<v Speaker 1>doesn't work out for them either, actually leap. It's worse

0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:04.720
<v Speaker 1>than that. Nocturnal artificial light can pull birds off their

0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.160
<v Speaker 1>migration roots, especially if it's foggy or the clouds are low.

0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:11.200
<v Speaker 1>Then they hang around the windows and knock into the

0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:15.199
<v Speaker 1>glass and each other. This nighttime hazard is the reason

0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.360
<v Speaker 1>why Dozens of cities have joined lights out programs that

0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:21.679
<v Speaker 1>aim to convince building owners to turn off unnecessary light

0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:26.360
<v Speaker 1>during migration season. In the spring, when birds are feeling

0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.520
<v Speaker 1>territorial and feisty, they may see their reflection in the

0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.920
<v Speaker 1>window and try to attack it. This is less fatal

0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.800
<v Speaker 1>than flying full tilt into a window and is usually

0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:37.440
<v Speaker 1>just annoying to the human on the other side of

0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.479
<v Speaker 1>the glass. Birds are also more apt to fly into

0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:43.280
<v Speaker 1>windows if they get a little drunk on fermented berries.

0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:47.640
<v Speaker 1>Don't drink and fly birds. Fifty four to seventy six

0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:51.320
<v Speaker 1>percent of bird and window collisions are fatal, according to

0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:55.720
<v Speaker 1>the Portland Audubon Society. Study published in the journal The

0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:59.200
<v Speaker 1>Condor found that residential and low rise buildings account for

0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:03.200
<v Speaker 1>scent of all window impacts. High rises only account for

0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.640
<v Speaker 1>one percent. The same study estimated that between a hundred

0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.520
<v Speaker 1>million and one billion birds are killed each year by

0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:14.560
<v Speaker 1>colliding with buildings in the United States alone. So what

0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:19.920
<v Speaker 1>can humans do? Lots Actually, Yale, for example, has had

0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:23.480
<v Speaker 1>issues with birds crashing into windows for years, so the

0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:27.360
<v Speaker 1>university has incorporated bird safe standards for new building construction

0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:31.320
<v Speaker 1>and renovations that it tackles this includes making glass more

0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.760
<v Speaker 1>visible and dampening reflections to prevent the windows looking like

0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:39.360
<v Speaker 1>open passages. The standards also require decreased light pollution and

0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:43.480
<v Speaker 1>fewer structures that trap birds think open pipes, ventilation gates,

0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:48.160
<v Speaker 1>and drains. Here are some ideas suggested by the Audubon

0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:52.160
<v Speaker 1>Society to retrofit existing buildings. You can put a net

0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:54.639
<v Speaker 1>or screen on the outside of the window to slow

0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.560
<v Speaker 1>the bird down before the collision. You can close your

0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:00.720
<v Speaker 1>curtains or blinds at night. Make sure you place any

0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.799
<v Speaker 1>bird feeders and plants either at least thirty feet that's

0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:07.280
<v Speaker 1>nine meters away from your windows, or hangbird feeders right

0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.640
<v Speaker 1>on the glass with suction cups. Decorate your windows with

0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:14.400
<v Speaker 1>paintings or other art. You can also paint or apply

0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.480
<v Speaker 1>sticker strips to your windows, but remember birds fly between

0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.960
<v Speaker 1>trees and branches. Those strips should be no more than

0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:26.239
<v Speaker 1>two to four inches that's five apart, otherwise the birds

0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:34.040
<v Speaker 1>might try to fly through them. Today's episode is based

0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.440
<v Speaker 1>on the article Oh birds, please don't fly into our

0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.120
<v Speaker 1>windows on how Stuff works dot com, written by Kristen

0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.120
<v Speaker 1>hall Geisler. Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio

0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.520
<v Speaker 1>in partnership of how stuffworks dot com and is produced

0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:48.280
<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Clay. Four more podcasts My Heart Radio, visit

0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:50.760
<v Speaker 1>the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:52.080
<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.