How to reduce bird collisions

Here's the page on the FLAP website that suggests how to minimize bird collisions with glass. Nothing works very well. I have collisions in the windows in the back of my own house. But here is a place to look for some things to try: http://www.flap.org/new/prefr.htm

retrofitting at the Morgan Mail building

As most of you are aware, Morgan Mail has been retrofitted over the summer and this is a great, great news for NYC Audubon and all the volunteers who monitored this building over the years. All the large glass panels along the south façade of 28^th street and facing Chelsea park have been covered by an opaque vinyl film, thus preventing the trees from been reflected, as exposed in the picture below.

Monitoring at this site began early September and I am happy to confirm that no birds were found on this façade so far this season.

But there’s more to it! This success story caught Peter Duffy’s attention, a reporter from the New York Times! You can catch up with this article which was published Saturday September 22^nd by clicking on the link below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/nyregion/22birds.html

From the October 4 newsletter of Nicole Delacrétaz, Project Safe Flight Program Manager, NYC Audubon

Morgan Mail Facility covers windows

Nicole Delacretaz reported on October 17:
I am happy to report that Morgan Mail’s south façade hasn’t harmed a single bird this season, keeping its collision number to the lowest level ever: 4 collisions, all on the west façade. In comparison, by the same time last year, Morgan Mail had witnessed 157 collisions, 153 of which were fatal.

The film on the windows that cut down the reflections at that location seems to have worked.

Green Building Conference 10-25 in NYC

BUILD IT GREEN: A Conference on the Future of Green Building

Thursday, October 25, 2007

The New York Academy of Medicine

1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street

8:30 am - 12:30 PM

Please register by Friday, October 19th to guarantee space

Speakers

Amanda Burden, Director, NYC Department of City Planning

Carlton Brown, Principal, Full Spectrum of NY

Randolph Croxton, President, Croxton Collaborative Architects

The Build It Green Conference is one of the main components of Go Green East Harlem, a community-based initiative designed to transform East Harlem into the premier showcase for green, healthy living in Manhattan. Working with a steering committee of over 100 community leaders, experts and elected officials, Go Green has created an agenda focusing on Green Building, Transportation, Healthy Eating, Public Health and Asthma, Parks and Open Space, and Sustainable Business Practices.

The conference will include an expo where manufacturers of green products and goods will have display tables.

Any architects who attend the conference will receive Continuing Education Credits (CES LU's 2.5, HSH 2.5)

SEE THE ATTACHED PDF FOR MORE DETAILS OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.NYPLANNING.ORG

The Human Eye

Learn more about the human eye with this video of a UC Berkeley lecture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hyOQ6Dg4_E

Birds collide with airplanes, too

Birds don't hit just buildings.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ws/nwrc/field/sandusky/index.html - the site of the National Wildlife Research Station in Sandusky, Ohio.

The primary focus of research at the NWRC Sandusky, OH, field station concerns wildlife hazards to aircraft. Commercial jet aircraft traffic has shown a dramatic increase. Wildlife on and near airports create a hazard to operating aircraft. Wildlife strikes can cause severe damage to aircraft, human injuries, and loss of life. Between 1990 and 2003, 52,000 wildlife strikes were reported to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); 10% had an adverse effect on the aircraft or flight operation. The estimated cost of wildlife strikes to U.S. civil aviation 1990-2003 was almost $500 million per year. Internationally, the commercial aviation industry incurs a loss of over $1.2 billion annually from wildlife strikes with aircraft. U.S. military losses are estimated to be over $100 million annually. As one dramatic example, the U.S. Air Force lost 24 airmen and a $190 million AWACS plane in 1995 after the aircraft hit geese on take-off at Elmendorf Air Force Base, AL.

Birds can see magnetic field

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070927-magnetic-birds.html

This article says that structures in bird eyes help bird navigate. You might say that birds see the magnetic field of the earth