Most of us have heard that dreaded thump of a bird hitting our window. During the peak of fall migration in North America, an estimated 4 billion birds will have to navigate through cities, neighbourhoods, and other built environments as they head back south for the winter. With urban centres expanding, and the use of glass on buildings, railings, bus shelters and walkways becoming more common, birds will continue dying at an alarming rate if we do not speed up our response to these collisions. A recent 2024 study found that over 1 billion birds succumb to injuries caused by bird-window collisions. Together, we can help change this and ensure that our feathered-friends arrive at their wintering grounds safely by participating in Global Bird Rescue, either as an individual or with a team.
Global Bird Rescue, September 23-29, 2024, is an annual event held by FLAP Canada in partnership with Nature Canada, that encourages everyone to search for and rescue birds injured from collisions with glass. Anyone can participate and make an impact! Global Bird Rescue Teams and individuals from around the world take to the streets to search for and rescue injured birds, while recording window collisions on the Global Bird Collision Mapper. The data collected during this event, and all year round, inspires home and workplace bird-safe retrofits across the globe.
Every single person can help protect birds from fatal collisions with glass. Participating in Global Bird Rescue and helping injured birds, making your home windows bird-safe, pushing for bird-safe legislation, telling your friends, neighbours, co-workers and family about the issue, are all great ways to make a difference. Every year FLAP Canada picks up thousands of birds. Together, we can reduce these numbers and save bird lives.