On a brisk October morning in New York City, Melissa Breyer arrived at the World Trade Center bright and early, around 6:30 a.m. Her task was to meticulously scan the area’s towering structures in search of birds that may have struck the buildings and fallen.
For the past five years, Breyer has volunteered with Project Safe Flight, an initiative by the NYC Bird Alliance dedicated to tracking bird collisions throughout the city. Her early morning routine intensifies during migration seasons, often beginning as early as 5 a.m. when collisions are anticipated to be numerous.
“I strive to find as many birds as I can,” Breyer expressed. “It saddens me to think of them perishing unnoticed, and it’s crucial for each one to be accounted for in our vital data collection.”
Every spring and fall, countless birds traverse the Atlantic Flyway, navigating through New York City’s skyline. This journey is fraught with peril due to the city’s reflective glass facades and nighttime illumination. The NYC Bird Alliance estimates that annually, building collisions claim the lives of 90,000 to 230,000 birds.
Established in 1997, Project Safe Flight started with a handful of volunteers in downtown Manhattan. Today, the initiative boasts over 200 volunteers who diligently monitor bird collisions across the city’s five boroughs. Birds found alive are transported to the Wild Bird Fund for rehabilitation, while those that perish are sent to the American Museum of Natural History.
The data gathered by these dedicated volunteers enables the NYC Bird Alliance to examine collision trends and push for preventive measures. Their efforts bore fruit in 2019 when the New York City Council enacted Local Law 15 of 2020, mandating the use of bird-friendly materials in new and renovated building projects.
For Dustin Partridge, director of conservation and science at the NYC Bird Alliance, the legislation represents a big step toward a bird-friendly city.
However, he says there is much more work to be done, pointing out that artificial lights and reflective glass in many buildings still contribute significantly to the problem.
“The biggest need for New York City is lights-out legislation, something that would require lights in rooms that are unoccupied at night to go dark during spring and fall migrations, from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.,” Partridge said. “If we can get those areas dark, that would save a tremendous number of birds.”
New York City requires city-owned and city-managed buildings to turn off nonessential outdoor lighting at night during peak migration seasons, but advocates are encouraging more privately owned buildings to do the same.
Despite these challenges, Partridge says he is optimistic because of the increased public awareness of bird collisions and the nationwide efforts to address the problem.
“This is something that we can fix, it is not out of our reach,” Partridge said. “My hope is that one day I don’t have to come in and see a freezer full of dead birds, and that future is possible, but it’s going to take work to get there.”
