Posted on 09/20/2021 2:49:55 PM PDT by devane617
Hundreds of birds migrating through New York City this week died after crashing into the city’s glass towers, a mass casualty event spotlighted by a New York City Audubon volunteer’s tweets showing the World Trade Center littered with bird carcasses.
This week’s avian death toll was particularly high, but bird strikes on Manhattan skyscrapers are a persistent problem that NYC Audubon has documented for years, said Kaitlyn Parkins, the group’s associate director of conservation and science.
Stormy weather Monday night into Tuesday contributed to the deaths, she said.
“We had a big storm and sort of weird weather and lots of birds, and that’s sort of the perfect combination that can lead to bird-window collisions,” Parkins said.
“It seems that the storm might have brought the birds in lower than they would have otherwise have been, or just disoriented them,” Parkins added. “The effects of nocturnal light on birds is also quite strong, especially when it’s a cloudy night.”
Volunteers with NYC Audubon document bird deaths at high-risk spots during the spring and fall migrations.
Melissa Breyer, the volunteer who tweeted about finding nearly 300 birds on sidewalks surrounding the new World Trade Center towers, said the experience was “overwhelming.”
“As soon as I got to the buildings, the birds were everywhere on the sidewalk,” Breyer said. “Looking north, covered, south, covered, west, covered, the sidewalks were literally covered with birds.”
(Excerpt) Read more at mypanhandle.com ...
DANG!
A male cardinal will beat himself silly trying to fight his reflection in a window.
Perhaps if they put up arrow signs for the birds.
This happens every year.
It turns out that seagulls fly alongside the migrating birds and guide them into skyscrapers, eating the resultant carcasses.
Used to happen all the time at Kennedy Space Center. Bodies everywhere outside the VAB. Almost like CONvid bodies stacking up during a scademic. 😨
Exactly. Like the deer crossing signs on the highway.
I like how they die in neat rows according to species.
I’m guessing they’ll be counted as covid deaths in NY.
There are various things that you can do to help the birds know that the glass is not more sky. Decals or clings - including big bird silhouettes - are a simple one.
It’s not going to save all birds, though.
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