ALMOST 1000 BIRDS DEAD AFTER COLLISION WITH ONE BUILDING IN A DAY

Some of the many birds that were killed when colliding with McCormick Place in Chicago.

Sun 08 October 2023:

Locals in Chicago were baffled after an odd phenomena caused at least 1000 birds to die when they collided with a single building.

According to media accounts, there were so many dead birds on the ground that it looked like carpet. As bird carcasses were scattered within 1.5 miles of McCormick Place, volunteers had a lot on their hands. It is North America’s biggest convention center. The building is mostly made of glass.

An update from our partner Willowbrook Wildlife Center on yesterday's collision victims. While 1,000 dead birds were being collected @McCormick_Place, our teams found hundreds of injured birds downtown. Read the full update from Willowbrook here: https://t.co/42PoflKuGF pic.twitter.com/lLsGM2p1Dj

— Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (@BirdMonitors) October 6, 2023

The director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, Annette Prince, was quoted by The Guardian as saying, “It’s the tip of an iceberg but it’s it’s a huge, huge amount of birds we found both dead and injured.” She continued by saying that this was the highest number of bird strikes reported by the group on the grounds of one building in a single day.

From late Wednesday, October 4 through early Thursday, October 5, an estimated 1.5 million birds were in air over Chicago metropolitan area. Carcases of birds like hermit thrush, American woodcocks, Tenessee warblers and more were found.

“Not every bird that hits the window is going to leave behind a body,” said Brendon Samuels as quoted by The Guardian. Samuels researches bird window collisions at University of Western Ontario.

“In fact, we often see birds collide with glass and they continue flying some distance away, seriously injured in ways that ultimately they won’t survive past a few hours,” Samuels added.

“Anywhere you’ve got glass, you’re gonna have birds hitting the windows,” said Bryan Lenz of the American Bird Conservancy. He was quoted by The Guardian.

Deaths of birds in large numbers like this may occur when migration season is at its peak in spring and fall. Due to weather conditions like opposing wind, rain and and fog can make it tough for birds to find correct orientation. Light pollution in cities adds to their problems and may make them collide with structures.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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