In addition to applying stickers, you can also save birds that hit the glass by doing this

At about six in the morning on October 10, 2022, Tang Fei, who works in sales in Wuhan, was awakened by a phone call. He thought it was a harassment call, but the other party told him that a dead bird had been found .

Hearing this, Tang Fei immediately jumped up from the bed, even feeling a little excited.

He and his daughter Tang Chuhui had previously joined the bird strike prevention volunteer survey . In the first two weeks, they found nothing and felt a little disappointed. This time, they finally received news of a bird strike. However, when he rushed to the scene and saw the bird lying motionless under the glass curtain wall, he began to feel ashamed of his previous pride - it was a gray-backed thrush. When he wrapped the bird in a garbage bag, he could still feel the residual body temperature . His palms felt like they were electrocuted, and goose bumps appeared all over his body.

The first bird strike: Gray-backed Thrush｜Tang Fei

But this is just the beginning.

The body is still warm

When my daughter Tang Chuhui was in first grade, she saw a bird crash into the glass outside the classroom and died on the spot. At that time, Tang Fei knew nothing about bird crashes, didn't know what kind of bird it was, and didn't know why the bird would foolishly crash into the glass .

A few years later, he started bird watching by chance and learned about bird activities. He then learned that bird strikes are called "bird strikes". Among all causes of bird death directly related to human activities, bird strikes are the second most common threat to birds, second only to predation by stray cats. A 2014 study showed that the number of birds killed by glass strikes in the United States each year ranges from 365 million to 1 billion.

Some of the birds that died from bird strikes at Duke Kunshan University between 2019 and 2021 | Li Binbin

Most of the bird strike research that has been published so far is concentrated in North America. We still lack sufficient data and research on the current situation of bird strikes in China. In order to fill this gap, the National Bird Strike Prevention Action Network organizes a nationwide survey every spring and autumn to collect a large amount of bird strike data through the power of the public. This can not only help study the bird strike situation in China, but also let more people understand bird strikes, thereby raising awareness of nature conservation.

In the fall of 2022, the Tangs also joined the national bird strike prevention survey and selected two glass buildings near their home for investigation. The transparent and reflective properties of glass prevent birds from identifying glass and hitting buildings, so glass buildings are the most likely high-risk places for bird strikes . The gray-backed thrush found at six in the morning on October 10 was the first bird strike encountered by the Tangs since they began their investigation.

After arriving at the scene and confirming that it was a gray-backed thrush, Tang Fei calmed down and reviewed the operation process in his mind. Before the anti-bird strike survey began, he and other volunteers received online training and learned about the survey methods. The gray-backed thrush had no obvious external injuries and died within 2 meters of a large glass building, which can be identified as a bird strike. As required, he took and uploaded pictures of the front, side, back and surrounding environment of the gray-backed thrush, and uploaded the corresponding information on the data collection platform.

If you encounter a bird that is still alive after being hit by a bird, in addition to taking photos and recording information, you can also take it to a safe place, give it some water and let it recover on its own, or take it to an animal hospital. If you find a rare bird, you can contact the local forestry bureau and other departments. It should be noted that when handling injured or dead birds, you must not touch them directly with your hands , because the risk of infectious bacteria on the birds cannot be ruled out.

After dealing with the gray-backed thrush, Tang Fei walked to the other side of the building and found a small yellow-browed willow warbler under the glass . In the next two days, Tang Fei found dead strong-footed tree warblers and red-throated thrushes near the two buildings.

On October 20, the official investigation was about to end. In the four-week investigation, Tang Fei recorded four bird strikes - although the data was not much, it was very important. Regardless of whether the volunteers recorded bird strikes, the data would be sorted and included in the China Bird Strike Research ; the Bird Strike Prevention Network would also compile the data into an annual report every year.

Compilation of bird strike data in the annual report | National Bird Strike Prevention Action Network 2023 Annual Report

But Tang Fei always felt that there was still a mission to be accomplished, so he and his daughter decided to continue the investigation for three weeks. In addition to recording data, he also decided to try to start doing another thing - communication .

Make change happen

From the beginning of the investigation of the bird strike, Tang Fei realized the importance of communication. The call at 6 a.m. about the bird strike was the result of his patient communication with the building cleaner. In the early stage of the investigation, when he was inquiring about the situation in the building where the bird strike occurred, he found a cleaner and approached him to chat. From distrust to half-belief, from work to life, he talked for two hours and gained the trust of the cleaner .

Later, when the cleaner saw the dead gray-backed thrush when he went to work in the early morning, he called Tang Fei immediately.

Important Investigation Partner｜Tang Fei

However, it is far from easy to communicate with the building property management company and hope that they will make changes to the appearance of the glass curtain wall. Bird strikes endanger the lives of hundreds of millions of birds every year, but it is not difficult to avoid them. According to North American research, sticking anti-bird strike stickers on the glass can make birds aware of the existence of glass and avoid glass buildings . Tang Fei communicated with the property management company twice, but there was still no progress.

For the sake of aesthetics, lighting, and bird-proofing, polka-dot stickers with a horizontal and vertical spacing of less than 5 cm are generally used. This is the bird-proofing sticker renovation of the sky corridor of the Duke Kunshan University dormitory. | Lv Chen, Duke Kunshan University

A few days later, when the Tangs passed by a gardening company near their home, they discovered another bird strike. The gardening company was surrounded by transparent glass, so the probability of bird strikes was extremely high. Sure enough, under the glass, they saw a common kingfisher . The kingfisher's body was still warm, and it must have just hit the glass.

Kingfisher died from bird strike｜Tang Fei

However, how can communication effectively promote the transformation of bird strike facilities?

This time, before officially communicating with the gardening company, Tang Fei thought for a long time. He realized that bird strikes were not caused intentionally by these companies, and many people actually did not know about bird strikes, so he should not be hostile; instead, he should tirelessly publicize and let more people know about this phenomenon . For companies, development and survival are the top priorities. It is reasonable not to care about things that are not related to their own operations. But if business operations and caring for wild animals can be combined, perhaps a win-win situation can be achieved.

At that time, the World Wetland Conference was held in Wuhan, and the concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature was deeply rooted in people's hearts. The gardening company itself is closely related to nature. Tang Fei proposed to jointly carry out some activities to care for nature with the gardening store, and popularize bird strikes by the way . This can not only promote anti-bird strike renovations, but also reflect the company's social responsibility and win the recognition of surrounding residents. This way of communication really worked, and the other party was willing to continue communicating. Unfortunately, the epidemic hit and the plan had to be interrupted.

After that, a small incident happened: the gardening store manager witnessed a white-breasted kingfisher crashing into the glass and dying. With the awareness of bird strike prevention, it is hard for people not to be touched when they see beautiful life disappearing before their eyes. | Tang Fei

But the awareness of preventing bird strikes had already been planted in the other party's mind, and things soon took a turn for the better after the epidemic was over - the gardening store manager called and invited Tang Fei and his daughter to organize a window paper-cutting activity on the third day of the Lunar New Year, which could also be combined with preventing bird strikes.

The activity lasted from the third to the sixth day of the Chinese New Year. Tang Chuhui led the children to cut window paper-cuts, while Tang Fei taught them about bird strikes. Not only did the children realize that loving birds requires protecting them first, but the adults also recognized the significance of the activity. Paper window paper-cuts are easy to fade, and if they are posted outdoors, they will gradually weather and fall off after three or four months. They can only make birds aware of the existence of glass to a certain extent , but cannot prevent bird strikes for a long time; but through window paper-cuts, people have already acquired the awareness of preventing bird strikes.

Children are pasting window decorations on the glass house｜Tang Fei

Let’s record together and make changes happen together

There are many volunteers like the Tangs who conduct bird strike prevention surveys every year. In the national bird strike surveys in the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023, a total of 469 and 861 volunteer individuals or groups completed 7,681 and 11,665 valid bird strike surveys, respectively (one survey per building is counted as one bird strike survey), covering a total of 1,041 buildings across the country.

In addition to individual participants, many people also participated in the survey in teams, such as the Shenzhen University Lihu Campus team. Since the fall of 2021, they have formed a three-person team to participate in the survey, which has continued to this day.

Teamwork can effectively solve many problems, such as the problem of getting up early - morning is a time when birds are more active, but sanitation workers are likely to clean up the bird carcasses early in the morning, so volunteers should complete the survey as early as possible, preferably no later than 1 pm. If more people participate in the survey and share the buildings to be surveyed, there is no need to worry about the failure of getting up early delaying the survey. Compared with individual surveys, team surveys are much more efficient and have better data quality.

In the fall survey of 2022, they found a total of 11 bird strikes in three buildings, including dormitories, restaurants, and the newly built library. The new library has a large glass-covered area, and more than one bird strike occurred in a month. The members of the investigation team hope that they can complete the investigation, provide effective data, and promote the school's awareness of the dangers of bird strikes and the need for anti-bird strike renovations .

Volunteers also made specimens of dead birds. This is a tree pipit skull specimen | Shenzhen University Lihu Campus Team

Green-winged golden dove skull specimen soaked in hydrogen peroxide｜Shenzhen University Lihu Campus Team

In Beijing, the Fun Kids Bath Volunteer Team led parent-child volunteers to participate in the bird strike prevention survey. Pan Yuhuan, the team leader, believes that the bird strike prevention survey does not have too strict time and location restrictions, which is just right for children who need to go to school . In addition to organizing volunteers to complete daily bird strike prevention patrols, the volunteer team also organized children to publicize the bird strike prevention action to the public through lectures and hand-written newspapers.

Bird strike prevention poster drawn by children | Fun Children's Bath Volunteer Service Team

Bird strikes claim the lives of hundreds of millions of birds every year and are a global problem. But to alleviate bird strikes, each of us can help. In addition to the anti-bird strike stickers mentioned above, small actions such as closing curtains, turning off lights at night, moving plants away from windows, and applying window decorations can also reduce the impact of glass on birds.

Of course, you can also join the ranks of volunteers for the bird strike prevention survey . The Bird Strike Prevention Action Network has begun recruiting volunteers for its national survey in the spring of 2024. The survey cycle for each region is:

Southern region: Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan

Central China: Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi

Northern region: Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai

Don’t worry if you don’t have experience and don’t know how to start a bird strike investigation. The Bird Strike Action Network will organize training and pre-investigations before the official investigation begins.

Author: Kaiyun Ren (Bird Strike Prevention Action Network, Duke Kunshan University)

Editor: Mai Mai

Title image source: Tang Fei