NEW YORK– On a cold October morning, Melissa Breyer arrived at the World Trade Center at 6:30 am. She looked carefully through the tall buildings in the area, looking for birds that had fallen to the ground after crashing into a building.
As a volunteer for Project Safe Flight, a program of the NYC Bird Alliance To monitor bird strikes in the city, she has hiked this trail during the early mornings of each migration season for the past five years. On days when many collisions are expected, her routes start as early as 5 a.m
“I want to make sure I find as many birds as possible,” Breyer said. “The idea of them dying in vain makes me sad, and I want them all to be included in (that) all-important data.”
Each year, during the spring and fall migration seasons, millions of birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway pass by New York City, where they are at high risk of colliding with buildings due to reflective glass surfaces and nighttime lighting. According to the NYC Bird Alliance, 90,000 to 230,000 birds die each year due to building collisions.
Founded in 1997, Project Safe Flight bStarted as a group of volunteers monitoring building collisions in downtown Manhattan. Today, more than 200 volunteers patrol areas across the five boroughs and collect information about bird strikes. Birds found alive are sent to the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side for rehabilitation, while those that die are donated to the American Museum of Natural History.
Using the data reported by the volunteers, researchers from the NYC Bird Alliance can analyze patterns of bird collisions in the city and use their findings to advocate for change. In 2019, the New York City Council passed Local Law 15 of 2020, which requires bird-safe materials to be installed on newly constructed or modified buildings.
While NYC Bird Alliance staff are optimistic about a bird-friendly future in the city, they also acknowledge that there is still much more work to be done.
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