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Volunteers needed to monitor bird window collisions in new Bird Safe Guelph initiative

'We’re hoping that this work is going to bring the most change'
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Hayley Wilson, founder of Bird Safe Guelph.

Future efforts to increase the safety of birds on the University of Guelph campus will depend on the data collection efforts from a new volunteer opportunity.

Bird Safe Guelph, an organization that aims to create a bird-friendly campus, is looking for participants to volunteer as bird window collision monitors. This role will require individuals to gather data on birds that collide with windows at the university. The data will then be used help retrofit buildings to reduce the number of collisions.

Hayley Wilson, founder of Bird Safe Guelph, said this type of research has been done on the campus of Western University.

“They have been using this data to retro-fit their buildings and they have been a huge inspiration for us,” she said.

Starting in mid-April, volunteers will survey select buildings on campus for two hours a week until June. Wilson explains that time of year is when millions of birds migrate, and it often results in the most collisions between birds and windows happening.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the birds that will be (identified) will have crashed into the window,” she said.

Wilson doesn’t have data on which types of birds are most susceptible to a window collision, but a scientific article lists the highest number of species noted in a Toronto study include the golden-crowned kinglets, the whitethroated sparrow, the dark-eyed junco and the ovenbird.

Wilson explains the buildings chosen for monitoring are based on a list supplied by the university. She adds the chosen buildings include lots of windows, or nature nearby, which would create a reflection and confuse the birds.

“They noticed bird collisions with these buildings in the past,” Wilson said about the list of buildings from the university. 

Wilson mentions anyone in the community can apply to be a bird window collision monitor, but they will need a ride to campus, as it is an early morning position.

“A lot of collisions are happening overnight,” said Wilson, “if you wait until later that morning, the bird might be gone.”

For some university students, Wilson said volunteering as a bird window collision monitor as part of an undergraduate thesis opportunity, which includes writing a thesis on the research findings in the fall. 

“A lot of us at Bird Safe Guelph are graduate students and researching birds is what we do,” said Wilson about the thesis opportunity. 

With the program, Bird Safe Guelph is hoping to get at least 10 volunteers to help survey buildings. The plan will be to submit the findings from volunteers to the university next summer.

“The more we can get the better because of the more data we can get,” said Wilson. “We’re hoping that this work is going to bring the most change.”

Those interested in volunteering can email [email protected].