Bird window strikes featured in UP exhibit

The UP Diliman College of Science Institute of Biology hosted an exhibit in February that featured the remains of birds that had crashed into windows in an effort to raise awareness about these incidents. 

"Making the Invisible Visible'' was a pop-up exhibition put together by Bird Window Strike Philippines. 

''Featuring the feathered remains of unlucky birds that had collided into windows, the displays served as poignant and striking visuals for this strange but common phenomenon. Infographics and posters provided possible solutions and detailed accounts of incidents from up to 290 citizen reports from all around the Philippines,'' the UPD-CS Science Communications said in a press release. 

Pigeons, kingfishers, barbets, and pittas were among the common victims of window collisions, Bird Window Strike Philippines said. 

“In particular, we get a lot of Common Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica) and Hooded Pitta (Pitta sordida) in the reports,” they said. 

“We don’t know why these birds seem to be colliding more, but some of the explanations in literature are related to increased blue light pollution in cities and to birds’ behavior of moving around different forest patches.”

The statement said birds may collide with windows due to being misled by the view of their surroundings through the glass or by reflections of trees and the sky on the glass surface. 

According to studies by various researchers and the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) database, bird collisions could be prevented by breaking up reflections of trees and skies on glass surfaces by installing stickers at least 1 centimeter in size and spaced around 5 centimeters apart.

The exhibition showed other solutions, such as ropes and wire mesh screens for windows. 

“[These solutions are] among the most effective, but this doesn’t mean that these are the only choices. In the Animal Bird Conservatory database, there are a number of DIY solutions and commercial solutions that people can choose from,'' the group said. 

Bird Window Strike Philippines was founded as a passion project and research initiative by Janina Castro of the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability and Jelaine Gan of The UP Wild, an online learning community that promotes awareness of the wildlife and green spaces of UP Diliman. 

''The two had long been avid bird watchers—or 'birders'—when the idea formed after Janina rescued a Coppersmith Barbet that had struck a window in the Ateneo de Manila University,'' the UPD-CS Science Communications said.

''She realized that little to no research was being done on bird collisions with windows, despite their somewhat common occurrence. Teaming up with Jelaine, the two discussed how they could bring more attention to this issue and what could be done to prevent further collisions.''

Bird Window Strike Philippines said it plans to organize more pop-up exhibitions in the future. — VBL, GMA Integrated News