Wild Bird Window Strike Prevention: Saving Lives at Home

Window strikes kill up to 1 billion birds annually in the US, making home and commercial building window treatment one of the highest-impact individual welfare actions available.

Key Facts

Birds cannot perceive glass as a solid barrier — they see reflections of sky and vegetation as flight paths
Up to 1 billion birds die from window strikes annually in the US, making it the second largest human-caused bird mortality source
Most window strikes occur at buildings 1-3 stories high — not skyscrapers
UV-reflective glass treatments that are visible to birds but largely invisible to humans are highly effective
Placing window feeders within 1 meter of glass prevents fatal acceleration in strike events

Welfare Considerations

Window strikes cause immediate death or severe internal injuries and concussion that leads to delayed death from predation or exposure. The suffering of non-immediately fatal strikes — disorientation, internal hemorrhage, pain — represents welfare harm in addition to mortality. Simple, low-cost interventions including window tape, decals placed close together, or UV-reflective film dramatically reduce strike rates. Treating windows facing vegetated areas and light-throughput pairings (window-to-window) is the highest priority.

What You Can Do

Apply bird-safe window films, closely-spaced tape, or decals to large windows facing vegetation
Place bird feeders either within 1 meter or more than 10 meters from windows to reduce strike risk
Close blinds or curtains when rooms are unoccupied to reduce window-through transparency
Support American Bird Conservancy Glass Collisions program for science-based solutions