We are petitioning Mount Allison University to invest in bird safe windows for all campus buildings. Migratory birds are suffering massive population losses throughout the Western Hemisphere. In 2019 a study found that over 3 billions birds have been lost since 1970, a massive reduction in bird populations (Rosenberg et al., 2019). Research in Canada has suggested upwards of 25 million birds fatally collide with windows annually (Longcore and Smith, 2013). Many birds use light to navigate and are therefore drawn to areas with artificial light (i.e. buildings). They are also disoriented by reflected light which can lead to window strikes. 

Each year multiple birds are killed on the Mount Allison campus. They have frequently collided with buildings like the library, Barclay, and Gairdner. Many are brought to the Biology Department where they have been processed to be used for academic purposes, but we should be doing more as a university to prevent this from occurring. There are many simple and cheap solutions to this problem that would decrease the negative ecological impact our campus has and would contribute to the conservation of migratory birds as a whole.  

Universities throughout Canada have begun investing in bird-safe buildings, and its time Mount Allison does the same. For example, the University of Western Ontario has retrofit their research facilities to be bird safe. The University of British Columbia has hosted a bird-safe window art contest which has not only increased building safety for birds but has contributed to beautifying their campus. There is a lot of opportunity here for collaboration between art and science here at Mount Allison while working towards a good cause. We could even earn a label as a bird-safe campus, at the forefront of ecologically conscious building initiatives across the country.  
 

For more information please visit: https://flap.org/bird-safe-campus/