New glass technology could stop hundreds of MILLIONS of birds from flying into windows every year
- Between 355 million and 988 million birds are killed eery year from striking buildings in mid-flight
- New glass is marked with patterns visibly the a bird's eye in flight
- Tests being performed underground at the Bronx Zoo
Researchers may have finally found a way to save the lives of hundreds of millions of birds killed every year when they fly into transparent glass.
In an underground tunnel at the Bronx Zoo there are already live tests underway to save the feathered friends with new technology.
A panel with bird-friendly glass using white vertical stripes to signal its presence to birds is set up next to the plain type of transparent glass birds don't detect until it's too late.
A new type of glass marked with white stripes could act as a warning sign for birds in flight
In a test observed by The New York Times, a yellow-rumpled warbler flew into the tunnel but managed to avoid the safety glass.
It's estimated between 355 million and 988 million birds are killed eery year from striking buildings in mid-flight.
The New York City Audubon, the American Bird Conservancy, and Fordham University are all collaborating on the research.
A fine-mesh net is hung before the panels at the Bronx Zoo to ensure no birds are actually harmed in flight.
Another new type of glass, Ornilux, has shown promising results in appearing plainly in avian vision.
That glass is coated with a patterned, ultraviolet reflective coating that birds can see but which is all but invisible to the human eye.
Glass that appears in avian vision could save the lives of hundreds of millions of birds every year
The tests also involve spreading lines and visual cues out to see how far they can be from each other before they no longer alert birds to the danger.
William Haffey, an ecology student at Fordham University, told the paper of record that the lines seem to work best at four inches apart.
Ideally they find a happy medium to alert birds but that can still find favor with designers and architects.
'We're going to see how far we can stretch the limits,' Haffey said. 'The fewer lines you have on the glass, the happier the architects are going to be.'
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