Project Safe Flight
Every spring and fall across the United States migratory birds die by the hundreds of millions in collisions with buildings, confused by reflective and transparent glass and artificial lights at night. In New York City alone, the annual collision toll is as high as 230,000 birds, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Birds of Conservation Concern such as the blue-winged warbler, Canada warbler, bay-breasted warbler, and wood thrush. This year’s World Migratory Bird Day theme is “Dim the lights for birds at night” to raise awareness about the negative impacts of light pollution and collisions with building glass on bird populations.
For over two decades, NYC Audubon, the lead UBT partner in the city, has operated a Project Safe Flight program to understand the major cause of migratory bird loss in the city and develop solutions. In annual spring and fall collision surveys since 1997, community science volunteers have recorded nearly 7,000 collisions involving 120 migratory and resident species, resulting in the first published study of NYC collision numbers. A seven year study with Cornell University at the September 11 Tribute in Light found that the beams draw birds from as far as five kilometers away and keep them circling in the lights, exhausting their energy reserves and making them vulnerable to collisions and predators.
This research and studies by other scientists have led to the development of solutions, including landscaping designed to keep birds away from windows and glass with patterns visible to birds. NYC Audubon and American Bird Conservancy developed the first bird-friendly building design guidelines and co-introduced a pilot LEED credit for buildings that incorporate bird-friendly practices. The 2015 renovation of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center resulted in a 90% reduction in bird deaths and injuries. The Service recently updated its best practices for reducing bird collisions with buildings, which can be found here.
Collaborating with the architectural and real estate communities, NYC Audubon led the effort in 2019 to shape and pass the nation's most far-reaching bird-friendly buildings legislation. Local Law 15 requires bird-friendly materials on all new construction and major renovations. In 2020, a coalition including NYC Audubon helped pass New York City's first legislation to turn off unnecessary building lights during migration. That law applies to municipal buildings only, but the effort continues to pass broader Lights Out legislation at the city and state level.
NYC Audubon continues to work for the widespread adoption of collision prevention solutions in New York City and to share strategies and tools with groups in other cities such as through the Urban Bird Treaty Program’s Community of Practice involving more than 20 cities. It encourages retrofits of buildings identified by collision monitoring as especially hazardous and provides technical assistance to owners, most recently the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Queens Museum, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Liberty Park on the World Trade Center campus. Feather Friendly was also applied recently at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Queens and Brooklyn’s Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center.
Project Safe Flight is made possible by leadership support from the Leon Levy Foundation; grants from the Robert F. Schumann Foundation and the New York City Environmental Fund/National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; a grant for dBird from Jim and Birte Falconer through Seattle Audubon; and a competitive grant awarded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program, with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Urban Bird Treaty Program.
NYC Audubon and Sadhana -- Working Together to Clean Up Jamaica Bay and Foster Cross-Cultural Connections
Every September, New York City Audubon joins Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus in a beach cleanup at the National Park Service’s Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s North Channel Bridge Beach in celebration of the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup Day. Sadhana’s organizers work with the local Hindu community to highlight issues surrounding the impact of certain ritual prayer practices on Jamaica Bay and organize monthly cleanups. For their September cleanup, NYC Audubon brings in volunteers to work alongside Sadhana. Much of what is collected falls outside of typical beach debris like cigarette butts and fishing line. Volunteers regularly find devotional items like statues of deities (murthis) and oil lamps (diyas) which are used in the practice of Ganga puja (worship to the waters). During the cleanup, Sadhana educates New York City Audubon’s volunteers about these items and practices and the importance of removing the religious offerings in a respectful manner.
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