New building guidelines aimed at reducing bird collisions

The City of Ottawa's planning committee has approved new building guidelines designedto help keep birds from crashing into windows.

"We estimate a quarter of a million birds die each year in Ottawacolliding with our buildings," said Heather Bryson, a volunteer withSafe Wings Ottawa,during a virtualcommittee meeting Tuesday. Safe Wings provided input to city staff, who came up with the guidelines.

"Once [people] know that fact, they begin to see buildings around us in a whole new light."

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Bryson said cities includingNew York, Chicago, Vancouver and even Markham, Ont., have adopted similar guidelines.

The proposed design guidelinessuggest usingglass that's more visible to birds, especially on corners, and advises against glass-covered passageways like the one at Ottawa city halland the National Gallery of Canada. They alsosuggest reducing interior lighting during fall and spring migration periods,and creatingbird-friendly landscaping by providing clean water and nesting platforms placed in safe locations.

Not just high-rises

Bryson said many developers don't consider birds when designing buildings.

"The guidelines may indeed be the first time the applicant hears about the problem of birds colliding with buildings," she said. "Just like [how] development applications include shadow studies, the hope is that consideration of potential forbird collisions simply becomes another standard of the process."

Building collisions arethe second-greatest human-related killer of birds in Canada, after domestic cats, according to the city. And it's not just glass-covered high-rises that are to blame: houses and low- to mid-rise buildings are responsible for 99 per cent of bird collisions in this city, according to Safe Wings.

"It's not necessarily tall buildings," agreedCoun. Theresa Kavanagh. "I know I've had birds bump into my front window, [and]I'm [in] a bungalow."

Planning committee chair Jan Hardersaid city staff will be asked to report back annually on how the bird safetyguidelines are being implemented, starting in 2022.

The guidelines still need the approval of city council on Nov. 25.