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Animal rights group PETA has issued a strong demand to the five anonymous architects in the running to design the new $130 million Bezos Learning Center at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C. In response to the Smithsonian Institution’s recent unveiling of... View full entry
Architects have known how to prevent their buildings from becoming bird killers for more than a decade: Patterned glass, exterior screens and turning the lights off at night can all significantly reduce bird deaths. But those standards clash with the big glass and big views that clients associate with big money. — Bloomberg CityLab
The problem stems from the way glass reflects green spaces surrounding them. Recent advancements in data and social media tracking have combined with architectural studies have been able to successfully produce guidelines which recommend a wide array of interventions like ceramic frits, visual dot... View full entry
Following a rare show of bipartisan support, the Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2019 has passed the United States House of Representatives and is now headed for consideration by the Senate. The bill would require "each public building constructed, acquired, or of which more than 50% of the facade is... View full entry
New York City lawmakers are poised to adopt legislation requiring “bird-friendly” glass on all new construction in an effort to cut down on the tens of thousands of birds who die flying into the city's buildings every year.
New York will be the largest city in the nation to require glass that is visible to birds if the measure passes. Several California cities including San Francisco and Oakland have adopted similar rules
— ABC News
According to ABC News, the NYC Audubon estimates that 90,000 to 230,000 birds are killed annually from flying into buildings in New York City a number only a fraction of the 1 billion that die each year around the country. The cause of death comes from the reflective glass on taller... View full entry
new research published Thursday in Science shows bird populations have continued to plummet in the past five decades, dropping by nearly three billion across North America—an overall decline of 29 percent from 1970. — Scientific American
Reflective, glass-skinned buildings are responsible for the deaths of over 1 billion birds each year in the United States. According to the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), buildings are the second-deadliest human-linked cause of death for birds; Only domestic cats kill a higher number of birds... View full entry
It is estimated that up to 1 billion birds die every year in the United States due to collisions with glass facades and buildings, according to experts at the American Bird Conservancy and the Smithsonian. This worrisome statistic has prompted municipalities to institute "bird-friendly"... View full entry
An estimated 600 million birds are killed by buildings every year. Especially during spring and fall migrations, birds are attracted to the glow of residential homes and skyscrapers alike. Sometimes the birds crash directly into their windows. Other times, it seems to throw off their internal compass, causing them to circle until exhausted. — Fast Company
The saddening statistic comes from a 2014 study led by Scott Loss, an assistant professor of global change ecology and management at Oklahoma State University. More recently, a new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology found that Chicago, Houston, and Dallas are the top three U.S. cities... View full entry
By ornithologists' best estimates, between 350 million and a billion birds in the U.S. die every year from colliding into the windows of buildings. Lacking good depth perception, birds are unable to distinguish reflections in glass from the real thing, causing them to fly into the window at full... View full entry
Australian practice McGregor Coxall had the winning scheme to transform a degenerate landfill site into a new migratory-bird wetland sanctuary park in Tianjin, China. The Asian Development Bank and the Port of Tianjin co-launched the park design competition in response to the increasing loss of... View full entry
In fact, as many as 600 million birds die in window collisions in the U.S. and Canada every year, scientists estimate. [...]
A growing awareness of the threats to bird populations has prompted new laws and voluntary guidelines in cities from Toronto to San Francisco. Along with "green" building programs, these new rules are spurring demand for bird-friendly glass among architects, glass manufacturers, and their clients.
— news.nationalgeographic.com
Whether you're flying out for the holidays, staying at home, or you happen to be a migratory bird searching for a stylish pitstop in the midst of your seasonal travels, you might want to check out the birdhouses in Airbnb's "Every Traveler Deserves a Home" campaign that launched on Dec... View full entry
Chee Pearlman, a design consultant and curator, ventured that nests are “probably the purest antidote to the heavy steel-and-concrete building footprints that, city by mega-city, are overtaking the globe.” — NYT
Penelope Green explores the work of a number of contemporary "nest" makers such as Jayson Fann and Porky Hefer, who make nests for relaxation, comfort or pleasure. Ms. Green also discusses some recent examples of Twigitecture created as either fine art or performance art. View full entry
Retrofitting their home to eliminate feathered fatalities has worked for Brophy and Lutz. But a growing chorus of bird enthusiasts are advocating avian-friendly architecture at the design stage as the best prevention. It's a national movement that started in Chicago and has spread to other major cities, including the Twin Cities. — startribune.com
