New building guidelines aimed at reducing bird collisions

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

"We estimate a quarter of a million birds die each year in Ottawa colliding with our buildings," said Heather Bryson, a volunteer with Safe Wings Ottawa, during a virtual committee 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 including New York, Chicago, Vancouver and even Markham, Ont., have adopted similar guidelines.

The proposed design guidelines suggest using glass that's more visible to birds, especially on corners, and advises against glass-covered passageways like the one at Ottawa city hall and the National Gallery of Canada. They also suggest reducing interior lighting during fall and spring migration periods, and creating bird-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 for bird collisions simply becomes another standard of the process."

Building collisions are the 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," agreed Coun. Theresa Kavanagh. "I know I've had birds bump into my front window, [and] I'm [in] a bungalow." 

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

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