Graffiti saves birds: A year-round pattern of bird collisions with glass bus shelters

Zyśk-Gorczyńska, Ewa; Skórka, Piotr; Żmihorski, Michał

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.103680

Cited by 9 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Klem (2009) described a solution that uses ultraviolet (UV) signals in the form of adjacent and contrasting UV-reflecting and UV-absorbing elements, while Klem & Saenger (2013) found external films with UV-reflecting components of 20-40% over 300-400 nm to effectively prevent bird-window collisions. Importantly and unlike some experimental studies performed in a flight tunnel, we confirmed the effectiveness of the UV film in natural light conditions and on the actual objects located in the landscape: highly reflective glass panels of bus shelters formerly reported as an important source of bird-glass mortality (Zyśk-Gorczyńska et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…In 2017 and 2018, we monitored 85 glass bus shelters in the Lower Silesia Province (in South-West Poland) as a part of a larger study focused on bird-glass collisions (Zyśk-Gorczyńska et al 2020, 2021a. Among these 85 locations, we selected eight glass bus shelters for which we found a particularly high number of bird collisions in 2017 and 2018.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We monitored all eight shelters in 2017 and 2018 (130 visits in total; Zyśk-Gorczyńska et al 2020) and again in 2021. We only included monitoring in the spring-summer season (May to August) for analyses as during these months in 2017 and 2018 we found the highest number of collisions (see Zyśk-Gorczyńska et al 2020). During this period in each year, each bus shelter was visited every ca.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, this study goes further than Swaddle et al (2020) by testing the product's effectiveness in a real-world setting with free-living birds and random mix of species. Here, we used our former bird-glass collision data from glass bus shelters (Zyśk-Gorczyńska et al 2020, 2021a) located in Poland, and experimentally placed the UV film on some of them. This allowed us to separate random temporal variation in collision risk from the treatment effect in before-after control-impact study design.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ultraviolet film reduces bird–glass collision risk

Zyśk-Gorczyńska¹,

Żmihorski

2022

Ornis Fenn

Self Cite

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It is estimated that millions of birds globally die due to collisions with glass surfaces. In order to reduce this mortality, it is essential to provide an objective assessment of the effectiveness of bird-friendly preventive methods. Several types of opaque films and stickers are available nowadays and can be highly effective in protecting birds from fatal collisions. However, by being visible to the human eye, they can affect the users’ quality of view from within protected spaces. Products that take advantage of the birds' ability to see ultraviolet light seem to offset these impediments. This study determines if UV-reflective BirdShades film prevents birds from collisions with glass in natural environmental conditions. We monitored eight glass bus stops, where we had previously recorded high numbers of birds collisions. On four of them, we applied UV film, and the other four bus stops were used as control. A generalized additive mixed model showed a significant interaction between time (before vs. after) and film UV treatment (control vs. treated). Before the treatment, the number of collisions tended to be higher at treated bus shelters than control. However, this significantly changed after the treatment, suggesting that UV film reduces bird glass collision rate over 5-fold. Our study is the first worldwide that tested UV film on glass shelters and supports a conclusion that the UV film efficiently reduces the risk of bird collision.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ultraviolet film reduces bird–glass collision risk

Zyśk-Gorczyńska¹,

Żmihorski

2022

Ornis Fenn

Self Cite

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“…Recently, artificial night lighting has been suggested to be a potential source of bird‐window collision mortality, especially for nocturnal landbird migrants (Lao et al, 2020). In general, collisions occur at building windows, but have also been recorded in large numbers at small panes located in one‐story homesteads, as well as other reflective urban structures (Zyśk‐Gorczyńska, Skórka, & Żmihorski, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The invisible enemy: Understanding bird‐window strikes through citizen science in a focal city

Uribe‐Morfín

Gómez‐Martínez

Moreles‐Abonce

et al. 2021

Ecological Research

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Bird‐window collisions have been estimated to be among the most important sources of bird death. Despite increasing knowledge in Latin America, our understanding of this phenomenon is still incipient, with research performed in Mexico limited to a handful of studies. Here, we present the results of a citizen science effort focused on bird‐window collisions at seven buildings in the university campus of the National School of Higher Studies (ENES) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, located in the city of León (central Mexico). Our main goal was to describe seasonal patterns of bird‐window collisions and their relationship with building traits (i.e., building height, window area) through citizen science monitoring strategies. Our results showed that collisions were higher in two of the seven studied buildings, with two bird species recording almost half of the total collisions: Clay‐colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida) and Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). Seasonally, April was the only month to differ from the rest of the studied months, showing significantly higher rate of bird‐window collision. Regarding building traits, only building height was related to the number of recorded bird‐window collisions. In sum, our study provides findings from an understudied area, showing the value of citizen science approaches to generate knowledge on a deadly phenomenon. Notably, besides the potential drawbacks and importance of generating this kind of information, our project raised awareness on the topic across the entire campus community, from the students and academics to the administration, highlighting the potential for social impact with these kinds of projects.

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Field-testing effectiveness of window markers in reducing bird-window collisions

et al. 2022

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Bird-window collisions are a major source of human-caused mortality for which there are multiple mitigation and prevention options available. Despite growing availability of products designed to reduce collisions (e.g., glass with etched patterns or markers and films adhered over existing glass), few replicated field tests have been conducted to assess their effectiveness after installation on glass. We conducted a field study to evaluate the effectiveness of a commercially marketed product (Feather Friendly ® markers) in reducing bird-window collisions at glass-walled bus shelters in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. This study included a before-after control-impact (BACI) analysis comparing numbers of collisions at 18 bus shelters in both pre-treatment (2016) and post-treatment (2020) periods, and an analysis comparing 18 treated and 18 untreated shelters during 2020. For the BACI analysis, collisions were significantly reduced between 2016 and 2020 at shelters treated with the Feather Friendly ® markers even though collisions increased at shelters that remained untreated. For the 2020 analysis, there were significantly fewer collisions at treated than untreated shelters. Relative to a baseline study in 2016, we estimated that treating half of Stillwater’s bus shelters resulted in a 64% reduction in total annual bird collisions. Together, these analyses provide a rigorous field test of the effectiveness of this treatment option in reducing bird-window collisions. Our research provides a model for similar studies at both bus shelters and buildings to evaluate and compare products designed to reduce bird-window collisions, and therefore, contribute to reducing this major mortality source affecting bird populations. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11252-022-01304-w.

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Graffiti saves birds: A year-round pattern of bird collisions with glass bus shelters

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

Ultraviolet film reduces bird–glass collision risk

Ultraviolet film reduces bird–glass collision risk

The invisible enemy: Understanding bird‐window strikes through citizen science in a focal city

Field-testing effectiveness of window markers in reducing bird-window collisions

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