Bird Work
2020 UROP Bird-Window Collision Survey
Over one billion birds die every year from window collisions in North America. The VCU Bird-Window-Collision Survey was an 12-week campus survey conducted from August 15 - October 31, 2020. During this time, volunteers searched the perimeter of 7 building on the Virginia Commonwealth University Monroe Park Campus in Richmond, Virginia, for any birds killed or injured by window-collisions. The purpose of this survey was to determine which buildings on campus are the most dangerous to local birds, and propose a solution to administration.
This project was the product of a partnership between myself and Professor Leslie Bulluck of the VCU Environmental Science department. The data was compiled and used in a poster campaign to communicate the problem to the general public as well as the VCU administration. The posters were shown along with other UROP grant projects in spring of 2021.
Over the course of the 14 week survey, 41 bird carcasses were found belonging to 19 different species. This number only accounts for those carcasses that were not taken by scavengers during the night, and the actual death toll is likely much higher. Mitigation strategies were proposed to University administration, but were unfortunately denied.