Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogobam. Here, you're working away next
Speaker 1: to a window when you hear a thunk. You look
Speaker 1: up just in time to see a poor wee birdie
Speaker 1: stunned and falling away from the glass. Or maybe you've
Speaker 1: found a disoriented, injured, or even dead little feathered friend
Speaker 1: who's obviously crashed into a nearby window. Poor buddy. You
Speaker 1: think they don't know what glasses, Well, that's kind of
Speaker 1: the case, but it's not the whole story. And during
Speaker 1: daylight hours, those windows reflect sky and trees and other
Speaker 1: pleasant things. The birds think those reflections are continuation of
Speaker 1: the landscape, so they try to fly into it. It
Speaker 1: does not work out well for them. At night, the
Speaker 1: light from inside our homes and buildings shines through the windows,
Speaker 1: and the birds try to fly inside for shelter. That
Speaker 1: doesn't work out for them either, actually leap. It's worse
Speaker 1: than that. Nocturnal artificial light can pull birds off their
Speaker 1: migration roots, especially if it's foggy or the clouds are low.
Speaker 1: Then they hang around the windows and knock into the
Speaker 1: glass and each other. This nighttime hazard is the reason
Speaker 1: why Dozens of cities have joined lights out programs that
Speaker 1: aim to convince building owners to turn off unnecessary light
Speaker 1: during migration season. In the spring, when birds are feeling
Speaker 1: territorial and feisty, they may see their reflection in the
Speaker 1: window and try to attack it. This is less fatal
Speaker 1: than flying full tilt into a window and is usually
Speaker 1: just annoying to the human on the other side of
Speaker 1: the glass. Birds are also more apt to fly into
Speaker 1: windows if they get a little drunk on fermented berries.
Speaker 1: Don't drink and fly birds. Fifty four to seventy six
Speaker 1: percent of bird and window collisions are fatal, according to
Speaker 1: the Portland Audubon Society. Study published in the journal The
Speaker 1: Condor found that residential and low rise buildings account for
Speaker 1: scent of all window impacts. High rises only account for
Speaker 1: one percent. The same study estimated that between a hundred
Speaker 1: million and one billion birds are killed each year by
Speaker 1: colliding with buildings in the United States alone. So what
Speaker 1: can humans do? Lots Actually, Yale, for example, has had
Speaker 1: issues with birds crashing into windows for years, so the
Speaker 1: university has incorporated bird safe standards for new building construction
Speaker 1: and renovations that it tackles this includes making glass more
Speaker 1: visible and dampening reflections to prevent the windows looking like
Speaker 1: open passages. The standards also require decreased light pollution and
Speaker 1: fewer structures that trap birds think open pipes, ventilation gates,
Speaker 1: and drains. Here are some ideas suggested by the Audubon
Speaker 1: Society to retrofit existing buildings. You can put a net
Speaker 1: or screen on the outside of the window to slow
Speaker 1: the bird down before the collision. You can close your
Speaker 1: curtains or blinds at night. Make sure you place any
Speaker 1: bird feeders and plants either at least thirty feet that's
Speaker 1: nine meters away from your windows, or hangbird feeders right
Speaker 1: on the glass with suction cups. Decorate your windows with
Speaker 1: paintings or other art. You can also paint or apply
Speaker 1: sticker strips to your windows, but remember birds fly between
Speaker 1: trees and branches. Those strips should be no more than
Speaker 1: two to four inches that's five apart, otherwise the birds
Speaker 1: might try to fly through them. Today's episode is based
Speaker 1: on the article Oh birds, please don't fly into our
Speaker 1: windows on how Stuff works dot com, written by Kristen
Speaker 1: hall Geisler. Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio
Speaker 1: in partnership of how stuffworks dot com and is produced
Speaker 1: by Tyler Clay. Four more podcasts My Heart Radio, visit
Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.