Dr. Jim Cubie, J.D. Consultant Jimcubie1@gmail.com Consultant to the Acopian Center For Ornithology Muhlenberg College
Ninety-five per cent (95%) of deadly window collisions can be prevented if a system like Feather Friendly is installed.– according to a survey conducted at the McCormick Center in Chicago. This is 3 times more birds than can be saved simply by turning the lights out. This great success demands a change in how bird window collision prevention is being promoted. We must promote the proven prevention systems– not Lights Out. (Feather Friendly is a pattern of dots spaced 2”apart. It makes glass more visible to birds while remaining unobtrusive to humans.) 20 Million Birds Have Already Been Saved by McCormick Center Type Systems.
The survey found that this retrofit system reduced collisions by 95%. This is the first and only survey that compares the effectiveness of installing a bird window collision prevention system and reducing lights. It shows conclusively that installing a bird window collision prevention system — in this case Feather Friendly — is at least three times more effective than reducing lights. https://www.usglassmag.com/how-1-2m-in-bird-safe-products-changed-the-fate-of-migrating-birds-in-chicago/
The Lights Out media campaign is drowning out the collision prevention options that really work. A good doctor will only prescribe a drug that he knows will work, not one that is, at best, experimental.
20 Million Birds Saved by McCormick Center Type Systems. Over 20 million birds have been saved by systems like the pattern of squares at the McCormick Center. In contrast, the Lights Out type program is a complex system of weather and migration prediction that has never been proven to work. It did not predict the large scale bird collision event at the McCormick Center on October 4-5, 2023. The prediction system will fail about one third of the time – based on another article by the author of the McCormick Center study.
Big Savings. 27,000 birds The Feather Friendly system at the McCormick Center saved three times more birds than a Lights Out program (30%). During the fall migration, 900 birds were saved. The savings will continue for about 15 years. The savings in the spring are about the same, together they will save 27,000 birds.
Bad Advice to Public Many organizations, including the Fish and Wildlife Service are telling the public that you can make a “big difference in saving birds” by either turning out their lights or installing a permanent system like that installed at the McCormick Center. This is wrong and the result will be millions of bird deaths. (“Collision prevention” refers to permanent systems like Feather Friendly which signal to the approaching bird, that the window is unsafe. They are also offered by Collidescape and Acopian.) Collison prevention and Lights Out are not equivalent. Collision prevention is a proven option that is three times as effective as the Lights Out estimate. The Lights Outs estimate is just a projection.
The Fallacy “ Lights Out Does No Harm”
Before the Lights Out program was launched, the collision prevention systems which are currently offered saved more than 20,000,000 birds. If we tell the public that they can make a “big difference for birds” by just turning out their lights, they will do the cheapest easiest thing i.e. nothing. If only half of the public do not install a collision prevention systems, and instead just turn off their lights, it will cause about 10 million unnecessary deaths over the next 10 years.
There is no evidence at all that the minuscule amount of light emitted from homes attracts birds. Forty-two percent of all bird window collsions deaths are at homes. Each home which installs bird window collision system will save about 90 birds or about 150 if birds are fed.
The 95% Success Rate Not Unique A study in 2022 found the same 95% success rate at a very different kind of building. (de Groot, PeerJ 10:e13142. )
We Must Choose the Best One. The avian population is in a crisis. Given our very limited resources we must promote what works, not what might work. That is 900 birds per year for 14 years or 12,600 birds.
Not Undermined by the Human Actions With a permanent collision prevention system like Feather Friendly you do not have to worry about whether the maintenance staff or the cleaning crew forgets to turn off the lights or for a myriad of reasons the lights are not turned off. (The major collsion event at the McCormick Center occurred even though the Center had committed to turn off its lights during migration. It left them on the get an exhibit ready for the next day.)
How to Find Effective Collison Prevention Systems. There are three companies offering tested options which can achieve a similar level of savings – Collidescape (https://www.collidescape.org/ Acopian BirdSavers https://www.birdsavers.com/ and Feather Friendly https://featherfriendly.com/ These systems have been installed on about 50,000 residences and 25 thousand commercial type buildings. A Consumer Guide to Bird Window Collion Prevention is available. It shows photos of all the systems as well as do it yourself alternatives. Only tested and approved systems are included in the Consumer Guide. https://ornithologycenter.com/consumerguide/
For an explanation of why 30%, and not 60%, was used to describe the effectiveness of the Lights Out program is at https://ornithologycenter.com/explanation-of-effectiveness-estimate-in-van-doren-journal-article/
explanation of how the estimate of 20 million birds saved by the existing bird safety systems see https://ornithologycenter.com/estimate-of-approximately-20-million-birds-saved-by-collision-prevention-systems-for-years-before-lights-out-campaign-started/
Jim recently became a consultant to the Acopian Center for Ornithology at Muhlenberg College .Dr. Daniel Klem, the nation’s leading expert on bird window collisions, directs the center. Jim served as Chief Counsel of the Senate Agriculture Committee. He was principally responsible for the conservation sections of two farms bills. Since the Science article warned that we have lost 30% of our birds, he has worked extensively on both bird window collsion prevention and native plant promotion. His most widely distributed publication is the Consumer Guide to Bird Window Collision Prevention. https://ornithologycenter.com/protectbirds/ He blogs frequently on avian conservation including its relationship to native plants.. https://ornithologycenter.com/blog/