Adam Betuel, executive director of Birds Georgia, began searching Atlanta’s streets for birds that had collided with buildings in 2015. “I knew birds hit buildings, but I didn’t know much more about the issue at that time, and I was surprised how easily I just found birds,” Betuel said.
Bird collisions with windows are a widespread problem in the United States. Environmentalists estimate that between 365 million and one billion birds die each year from building strikes. “That statistic is hard for most people to comprehend,” Betuel said. “When you think about the millions of homes we have and these high-rise buildings, and if each one is killing a few a year, that number can get big pretty quick.”
Birds Georgia has been collecting data on bird collisions in Atlanta for ten years through Project Safe Flight, which started in 2015. The organization seeks to use this information to advocate for bird-friendly construction practices and reduced light pollution.
Atlanta ranks as the fourth-most dangerous city for migrating birds during fall migration and ninth during spring migration due to its location on a major migration route. However, the exact number of bird deaths remains unclear.
Recently, student researchers from the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology have collaborated with Birds Georgia to develop new data tools aimed at clarifying the scope of bird collisions in Atlanta. “We’ve been working with different folks at Georgia Tech for years now, but it’s really picked up lately,” Betuel said. “There’s a lot of momentum and interest on campus to try to make the city safer for birds.”
Ashley Boone, a Ph.D. student in human-centered computing at Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, has led efforts to help Birds Georgia organize its collision data. Boone explained why this work matters: “We often see a gap between data collection and data advocacy,” she said. “Birds Georgia has done an amazing job of tracking collisions in Atlanta over the last 10 years. My goal is to understand the role technology can play in making data useful for policy change.”
Undergraduate students James Kemerait and Ian Wood designed user-interface tools that speed up this process by converting input into social media-ready visualizations and consolidating volunteer-collected data.
Boone noted that proposed legislation would be similar to policies adopted by New York City requiring bird-safe materials—such as patterned window films—in new or renovated buildings.
She also pointed out that residential homes account for about 40% of U.S. bird collision deaths: “Households are an underexamined cause of bird collisions,” Boone said. “We focus on the big buildings because it’s easier to convince one manager of a large building to use bird-safe materials, and it’s easier for a policy to address a commercial building. But the sheer volume of residential buildings in the U.S. has a tremendous impact on the number of collisions.”
Betuel described how migratory birds are drawn into urban centers by lights: “They’ll come into urban centers and collide with an illuminated building, or maybe they overnight somewhere that isn’t safe,” he said. “The next day, they’re surrounded by glass, and birds don’t understand reflection.”
Residents can participate by signing up online for Birds Georgia’s Lights Out Pledge; those who enroll receive text reminders on peak migratory nights asking them to turn off their lights early.
Thanks in part to tools provided by Georgia Institute of Technology, Birds Georgia identified more than 140 species affected by window strikes so far.
Betuel emphasized broader ecological consequences: “All these birds being lost results in fewer birds to eat pest insects, fewer birds to pollinate flowers, fewer birds to disperse seeds — all the ecological functions that we need, that they’re doing in the background that most people aren’t keen to,” he said.”If this decline in bird life continues to happen, at some point there will be issues with our ecosystems functioning as they always have.”
Georgia Tech is known as a leading public research university focused on technology fields such as engineering and computing while also offering programs across business and liberal arts (official website). The institution maintains its main campus spanning over 400 acres in Midtown Atlanta (official website), enrolling over 55,000 students annually (official website).
