New York changes building standards due to mass death of birds

In New York, a huge number of glass skyscrapers. Unfortunately, the birds are not able to regard them as an obstacle, therefore they are often broken about them. This publication writes arch: speech.

To prevent the mass death of birds, the City Council of New York is considering a bill that will prohibit the construction of buildings with glazing, potentially dangerous to birds.

According to this initiative, at least 90% of the building’s façade at a height of up to 23 meters should be made of material that birds can recognize as an obstacle. The same rule will apply to the repair of existing buildings, the channel noted ABC.

Corey Johnson, spokeswoman for the New York City Council, said the city’s buildings had become "a deadly trap for tens of thousands of birds."

“New York is a bird-friendly city and this law will help protect our feathered friends,” Johnson said.

Why birds do not see glass barriers

According to various estimates, from 90 thousand to 230 thousand birds die every year in New York. Throughout the country, their number is more than a billion individuals.

The fact is that all birds - from swifts to falcons - are misled by the reflection of the sky on the facades. Bird watchers cite the glittering glass skyscrapers as one of the reasons why bird populations in the United States have declined by a third in 40 years.

On the subject: In North Carolina, hundreds of birds died crashing into museum windows

The building of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan is one example of this. According to supporters of the bill, this gigantic glass building, due to the tinting and the location of the corners that gave it a characteristic shape, was nicknamed "Darth Vader 11 Avenue."

It was this building on the banks of the Hudson that was most often blamed for the death of birds.

True, during its renovation stained-glass windows with small white dots were used for the facade: they are clearly visible to birds, but almost invisible to people. According to the New York Ornithologists Association NYC Audubon, after this, bird collisions with the building ceased.

If the law is passed - and local journalists say it is highly likely - New York will be the first major city on the east coast of the United States to change building standards for birds.

These building regulations are already in effect in the San Francisco agglomeration on the west coast - in San Francisco itself and neighboring Auckland, the source recalled.