Wildlife Welfare

Wild Bird Window Strike Mitigation Strategies

Window strikes kill hundreds of millions of birds annually in North America alone, but effective low-cost solutions are readily available.

Key Facts

Up to one billion birds die from window strikes in North America each year
Reflective glass and large windows pose the greatest risk
Birds cannot perceive glass as a barrier and fly at full speed
Visible markings spaced less than 5 cm apart effectively deter strikes
Collisions often cause traumatic brain injury even in birds that fly away

Welfare Considerations

Window strikes cause immense suffering - birds that appear to fly away after impact often die slowly from internal haemorrhage and brain injury. The scale of mortality is staggering and almost entirely preventable through low-cost interventions applied to existing and new buildings.

What You Can Do

Apply bird-safe window markings or films to high-risk windows
Support building codes requiring bird-safe glass in new construction
Record and report window strikes to local bird monitoring schemes