In a recent conversation with a friend, they had shared with me that they had seen multiple deceased birds surrounding the Gateway Academic Center, specifically under the skybridge. To my dismay, my friend showed me photographic proof of the birds that they had seen. The sadly deceased birds appeared to be victims of the large glass panes of the skybridge looming above them.
Generally, birds fly into windows because they perceive them to be a part of the environment. While both birds and humans cannot see transparent glass, humans have been socialized to look for visual cues indicating the presence of glass, such as buildings, window panes, and door frames. However, birds don’t perceive the visual context of glass the same way that humans do. When a bird sees a reflection in glass, they understand it to be a part of their environment as opposed to a solid surface.
According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Services, collisions between birds and building windows are responsible for an average of 599 million bird deaths per year, second only to deaths caused by domesticated cats. According to a study conducted by Smithsonian researchers in 2014, low rise buildings (4-11 stories) similar to the Gateway Academic Center cause 56% of bird deaths while 1-3 story residencies cause 44% of bird deaths. However, there is an average of 122.9 million residencies and 15.1 million low rises in the United States. For low rise buildings such as the Gateway Academic Center, this comes out to about 22 birds killed by each low rise building per year in the United States.
While bumping into a glass window or door might be a mildly embarrassing experience for a person, it can be a deadly experience for a bird. Smaller common birds in Hoboken such as pigeons, starlings, and mourning doves fly at speeds of 20-30 miles per hour and may fly even faster if they are chasing prey or being pursued by a predator. Colliding with a solid surface at these speeds could lead to fatal injuries such as bruising, internal bleeding, and brain injury. Birds are especially vulnerable to bone fractures as they have hollow bones. According to the citizen science effort Global Bird Collision Mapper, approximately 35.5% of birds survive these glass collisions. However, even birds that survive flying into a window may be temporarily stunned or later become incapacitated by injuries, leaving them vulnerable to predators.
As for the skybridge of the Gateway Academic Center, there are many factors that make it a potential threat to birds. As stated earlier, the skybridge is attached to two four story low rise buildings, making it much more likely to contribute to bird collisions. Additionally, its wider windows are much more likely to cause bird crashes compared to smaller windows. The windows in the skybridge are also reflective and continuous, with few visual elements breaking them up. Furthermore, the skybridge also reflects images of the sky and vegetation as opposed to other buildings, which makes birds more likely to fly into them.
There are a number of ways Stevens could prevent birds from flying into the skybridge. The glass could be outfitted with more window panes or designs on them so birds can detect the visible barriers present. The “2×4” rule is also a helpful guideline to follow, which essentially says that birds will not attempt to fly through horizontal spaces less than 2” high or vertical spaces less than 4” wide. According to this rule, covering as little as 5% of the transparent areas of the skybridge could prevent 90% of bird collisions. With the completion of the two high rise University Towers that feature large reflective windows and a skybridge similar to that of the Gateway Academic Center, it is important to consider how our campus infrastructure can affect our environment.
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