The BTO has this week drawn attention to the problem of garden birds striking windows - a phenomenon responsible for millions of bird deaths each year.
Analysis of recorded recoveries of dead birds which were ringed under license from the
British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), has led to the estimate that some 30 million birds are killed each year by hitting glass. It is thought that birds seeing sky and trees reflected in glass are fooled into thinking their way is clear, or else a number of windows together fool the birds into thinking they can fly right through a house.
It is thought that perhaps another 70 million birds strike glass every year but are not killed outright by it. We can all help where this is a problem by making the glass more visible to birds, for example by fixing random shapes or bird silhouettes to the glass. The BTO would like people to record bird window strikes. To request a free recording pack, write to Window Strikes Survey, BTO, FREEPOST, Norfolk, IP24 2BR, call 01842-750050 or email gbw@bto.org.
