NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Large city buildings in downtown areas can be confusing for migratory birds, especially in downtown Norfolk, with its massive stretches of glass windows and lights on at night.
Birds that hit the glass often die. Since starting daily search efforts in August, the Cape Henry Audubon Society has found at least 264 birds that died by building strikes in Norfolk.
“So, they’re drawn into downtown,” Pat Scanlon said. “They are lured in by the lights, and then once they’re in the cityscape, if they can’t find their way out, they start hitting windows.”
Before Scanlon and her group started the search for dead birds on Friday, Nov. 1, security at the Gather building called her, saying that a bird was hurt after hitting a window — it was still alive.
“Its a warbler,” Scanlon said. “It’s eyes are closed, it’s not doing too good.”
Safely nestling the pine warbler in a box, Scanlon passed it off to Heidi Young, who brought it to Tidewater Wildlife Rescue for rehabilitation, where it may fly again in a few days.
Starting the Friday walk, Scanlon knew most of the birds found will not be this lucky.
“If it’s the same day, the eyes will start to sink,” she said, describing the dead birds when found. “If you find it immediately after it hits, the eyes are wide open.”
They search the sidewalks, plants, outdoor tables — any place next to a tall structure. Hitting a building often breaks the neck of the animal, causing a straight fall down.
“The birds are hitting different windows in different locations at different times of year,” she said.
It did not take long for us to find one — a white-throated sparrow in a parking lot along Granby Street. Scanlon took pictures of the dead animal and the window they likely hit. The bird and its info are then brought home to be added to her database.
These are not your common pigeons, either. Many are migratory birds. Scanlon said they find a lot of song birds, thrush-tanagers and shore birds.
Preventing building strikes is simple, according to Scanlon. Business owners and anyone living downtown can lower blinds, put reflection resistant film on the glass, posters, temporary window paintings and turn off the lights at night.
One of their biggest hot spots is the Scope Arena, with its massive windows and green space down below. We found a dead bird within minutes of our arrival.
Scanlon’s group is working with city leaders, advocating for more bird protective glass in new buildings, as well as asking for legislation to require certain lights be turned off at night. As the city switches to LED bulbs in its streetlights, the group is encouraging them to use lights with a more amber tone, saying brighter lights may be bad news for these birds.
The group has also been working to convince developers to put bird protective glass in the windows of their new buildings, like the upcoming casino near Harbor Park in Norfolk. So far, Scanlon said they are only putting bird protective glass on some of the windows at the new casino.
“Unless we do this, unless we can show people that this is happening in the city, and on what buildings, and what locations, we can’t get this accomplished,” Scanlon said.
“We have to be able to show them we’ve got the data. This is proof positive that Scope (Arena), the windows and scope are a huge issue. In order for the city to take steps to do something about the windows, this is what they want to see, sadly,” Scanlon added.
Scanlon asks anyone who sees an injured bird in the area to report it to the Tidewater Wildlife Rescue. They can be reached at (757) 255-8710.