Previously researchers estimated that over 1 billion birds die every year in the United States when they collide with windows and strike glass. That estimate has been revised upward by glass strike expert Daniel Klem, Jr. and his colleagues. Their research now suggests that window strikes claim between 1.28 billion to 3.46 billion and possibly as high as 5.19 billion birds annually in the U.S.! (Klem, Saenger & Brogle, 2024). Over half of these glass strikes occur on our home windows.
Fortunately, this is something that we can help to prevent by screening or marking the outside of our windows. There are numerous effective products on the market to prevent glass strikes, but if you're on a tight budget, here are three inexpensive ways to mark your windows:
painting designs
applying stickers or decals
hanging parachute cording on the outside of the window.
Here, we'll discuss painting designs on the outside of windows. All you need is a paintbrush and some white or light colored water-based paint, such as tempera or acrylic paint. On the outside of the window, paint a pattern, perhaps squiggly lines, leaves, birds, or anything.
Here are a few tips to make it easier for you:
If you're not confident in painting freehand, draw a design on a piece of paper (or ask an artistic friend to make a design for you!) to use as a template. Tape the template on the inside of the window facing the outdoors and paint the design on the outside of the window. Then, move the template to another section of the window and repeat the design.
If there are gaps in the design greater than 2 inches, painting dots that are at least 5/8 inches in diameter can quickly fill in these gaps.
If you're not happy with the design and the paint has already dried or you need to remove the markings for some reason, simply use a razor blade and simply scrape off the paint.
I hope this helps to make it easy for you to mark your windows to prevent bird strikes. Let me know if you have any questions. Find these directions and other methods for preventing bird glass strikes in Nature's Action Guide: How to Support Biodiversity and Your Local Ecosystem, a companion to Doug Tallamy's Nature's Best Hope. We hope you'll join the movement and help support wildlife and biodiversity where you live, work, and play. Let's show the world it can be done!
Daniel Klem, Jr.; Peter G. Saenger; Brandon P. Brogle, Evidence, consequences, and angle of strike of bird–window collisions. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (2024) 136 (1): 113–119. https://doi.org/10.1676/23-00045
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