Millions of birds are migrating through Denver as they follow a principal route of the Central Flyway. And each year, millions of birds die flying into the city’s buildings and windows.
About a billion birds die each year from flying into buildings, according to the American Bird Conservancy. The problem is that birds can't perceive most glass as a barrier and instead see what the glass reflects: the open sky, trees, and other things that are normally perfectly safe to fly right past. Collisions tend to occur at night, as artificial lights may confuse the birds and draw them into light-polluted city centers.
Wells Fargo Center (aka, the cash register building) and the IRS building on North Broadway are the leading sites of bird collisions in Denver right now. Some bird lovers are worried about One River North, the “garden gash” building currently under construction with a giant crack down the middle that will be filled with native plants. On Monday’s episode of City Cast Denver, Denverite senior reporter Kyle Harris spoke about how this feature could attract birds, and discussed whether developers are considering changes to protect the birds.
What else is being done about this? The Lights Out Denver program collects data on bird collisions in downtown Denver to raise awareness of this issue and to promote bird-friendly practices. LOD encourages buildings to turn the lights off at night, move vegetation away from windows, and install bird-friendly stickers on windows.
📣 Wondering how you can help? The Denver Audubon has some tips on how you can help reduce bird collisions with your home windows and what to do if you find injured birds.
