Group working to make city ‘bird-safe’ ahead of migration months
HAS THE STORY. BIRD BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER, ESPECIALLY DURING MIGRATION SEASON. WE ARE RIGHT AT THE START OF FALL MIGRATION, SO MILLIONS OF BIRDS ARE GOING TO BE TRAVELING OVER THE CITY OF BALTIMORE THROUGHOUT THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION. BUT NOT EVERY BIRD WILL MAKE IT TO THEIR DESTINATION. LAST BUILDINGS IN GLASS WINDOWS LIKE THESE ARE ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST THREATS. BIRDS, AS THEY’RE FLYING, THEY DON’T KNOW THAT THAT PLANT INSIDE YOUR WINDOW, BEHIND THAT PANE OF GLASS IS ACTUALLY GLASS UP TO 1 BILLION BIRDS DIE EVERY YEAR IN THE US FROM FLYING INTO GLASS. AARON REED MILLER AND LINDSAY JACKS WORK WITH TWO ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE A PART OF THE NEWLY FORMED BIRD SAFE BALTIMORE NETWORK. THE GOAL IS TO DECREASE THE NUMBER OF BIRDS COLLIDING WITH GLASS. JACKS IS THE DIRECTOR OF LIGHTS OUT BOLTS MORE, A GROUP THAT PICKS UP BIRDS HURT OR KILLED BY COLLISIONS IN THE CITY. WE’RE JUST WALKING FOUR MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR, 25 BUILDINGS AND WE COLLECT BETWEEN 450 TO 500 BIRDS, AND THAT’S JUST 25 BUILDINGS. SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS THESE DOTS ON THIS GLASS COULD SAVE A BIRDS LIFE. THE NATIONAL AQUARIUM HERE HAS WHAT’S CALLED BIRD FRIENDLY GLASS. IT MAKES THE GLASS MORE VISIBLE TO PREVENT BIRDS FROM CRASHING INTO IT. THESE ARE DESIGN CHOICES PIECES THAT INSTITUTIONS AND BUILDINGS AROUND BALTIMORE CAN MAKE. BUT THERE ARE ALSO CHOICES YOU CAN MAKE BIRD SAFE, BALTIMORE SAYS, TURNING OFF UNNECESSARY LIGHTS AT NIGHT, CLOSING YOUR BLINDS OR CURTAINS USING WARM COLORED LIGHTS LIKE AMBER OR YELLOW AND USING MOTION SENSOR. LIGHTS ARE SIMPLE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO SAVE A BIRD’S LIFE. WHAT WE’RE DOING IS WE’RE TRYING TO SAVE BALTIMORE ORIOLES. WE’RE TRYING TO SAVE AMERICAN WOODCOCKS. ALL OF THESE BIRDS, YOU KNOW, THAT PEOPLE FLOCK TO SEE THEY’RE IN YOUR BACKYARD AS THEY MIGRATE UP HERE. AND LET’S TRY TO MAKE IT SAFE FOR THEM. IF YOU’D LIKE TO TAKE THE PLEDGE TO HELP MAKE BALTIMORE BIRD SAFE, YOU CAN VISIT OUR WEBSITE
Group working to make Baltimore ‘bird-safe’ ahead of migration months
Updated: 6:56 PM EDT Aug 16, 2023
Birds of a feather flock together especially during migration months. “We are right at the start of our fall migration so millions of birds are going to be traveling over the city of Baltimore, throughout the Chesapeake Bay region,” said Erin Reed Miller, the Bird Friendly Communities Coordinator at Audubon. Not every bird makes it to their destination. Glass buildings and glass windows are one of their biggest threats.”Birds, as they are flying, they don’t know that the plant inside your window behind that pane of glass is actually glass,” said Lindsay Jacks, Director of Lights Out Baltimore. “We have the data to show that lighting and reflectivity, specifically during migration for birds, is a really dangerous problem and kills up to 1 billion birds in North America per year,” said Reed Miller.Reed Miller and Jacks are both a part of a newly formed network of organizations called Bird-Safe Baltimore. Their goal is to decrease the number of birds colliding with glass. Jacks’ organization, Lights Out Baltimore, picks up birds that are hurt or killed after hitting glass in Baltimore during migration. They monitor 25 buildings in April, May, September, and October.”We are just walking four months out of the year, 25 buildings, and we collect between 450 to 500 birds, and that’s just 25 buildings,” said Jacks. Bird-safe glass is one way to save a bird’s life. The patterns make the glass more visible to keep birds from crashing into it. The National Aquarium downtown is one place with bird-safe glass. “These are design choices that institutions and buildings around Baltimore can make,” said Reed Miller. There are also ways you can help by turning off unnecessary lights at night, closing your blinds or curtains, using warm colored lights like amber or yellow, and using motion sensor lights. “Anyone can save the birds downtown and the birds in their backyard,” said Jacks. “We are trying to save Baltimore orioles. We are trying to save the American woodcocks. All of these birds that people flock to see, they are in your backyard as they migrate up here, and let’s try to make it safe for them.” Audubon Mid-Atlantic, Lights Out Baltimore, BGE, Chesapeake Audubon Society, the Maryland Zoo, the National Aquarium, Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition, Phoenix Wildlife Center, Maryland Ornithological Society, Safe Skies Maryland, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are all part of the Bird-Safe Baltimore network. For more information on the group and how you can take the pledge to help make Baltimore bird-safe, visit the following website.
Birds of a feather flock together especially during migration months.
“We are right at the start of our fall migration so millions of birds are going to be traveling over the city of Baltimore, throughout the Chesapeake Bay region,” said Erin Reed Miller, the Bird Friendly Communities Coordinator at Audubon.
Not every bird makes it to their destination. Glass buildings and glass windows are one of their biggest threats.
“Birds, as they are flying, they don’t know that the plant inside your window behind that pane of glass is actually glass,” said Lindsay Jacks, Director of Lights Out Baltimore.
“We have the data to show that lighting and reflectivity, specifically during migration for birds, is a really dangerous problem and kills up to 1 billion birds in North America per year,” said Reed Miller.
Reed Miller and Jacks are both a part of a newly formed network of organizations called Bird-Safe Baltimore. Their goal is to decrease the number of birds colliding with glass. Jacks’ organization, Lights Out Baltimore, picks up birds that are hurt or killed after hitting glass in Baltimore during migration. They monitor 25 buildings in April, May, September, and October.
“We are just walking four months out of the year, 25 buildings, and we collect between 450 to 500 birds, and that’s just 25 buildings,” said Jacks.
Bird-safe glass is one way to save a bird’s life. The patterns make the glass more visible to keep birds from crashing into it. The National Aquarium downtown is one place with bird-safe glass.
“These are design choices that institutions and buildings around Baltimore can make,” said Reed Miller.
There are also ways you can help by turning off unnecessary lights at night, closing your blinds or curtains, using warm colored lights like amber or yellow, and using motion sensor lights.
“Anyone can save the birds downtown and the birds in their backyard,” said Jacks. “We are trying to save Baltimore orioles. We are trying to save the American woodcocks. All of these birds that people flock to see, they are in your backyard as they migrate up here, and let’s try to make it safe for them.”
Audubon Mid-Atlantic, Lights Out Baltimore, BGE, Chesapeake Audubon Society, the Maryland Zoo, the National Aquarium, Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition, Phoenix Wildlife Center, Maryland Ornithological Society, Safe Skies Maryland, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are all part of the Bird-Safe Baltimore network.
For more information on the group and how you can take the pledge to help make Baltimore bird-safe, visit the following website.
