Birds Colliding With Downtown Nashville Buildings; Window Treatment Solution Proposed

In an increasing environmental concern, birds have begun crashing into the buildings in downtown Nashville at an alarming rate. While the crashing sound of glass and the distressing sight of injured birds is concerning, the underlying cause is much more critical. Experts suggest that the phenomenon is due to the mirrored glass kept on the buildings which leads these birds to confuse them for open airways. A recent study shows that glass causes as much as 1 billion to 5 billion bird deaths every year in the U.S alone.

A Proposal to Counter the Problem

In a recent step towards counteracting this issue, Nashville city officials proposed guidelines for downtown developers suggesting them to add a special coating to their building windows. By doing so, the objective is to reduce the bird collision incidents. The draft suggested that designers should pay more attention to factors such as light reflectivity, glare and incorporate bird-friendly glazing where possible. However, these are merely guidelines and are not legally enforceable, leaving it to the discretion of the developers.

Steps Taken in the Past

Last year, Nashville became a part of the Urban Bird Treaty to contribute towards conserving urban habitat for birds and reducing potential hazards. In this mission, they planned to form a group dedicated to passing a city ordinance mandating new buildings to follow bird-safe construction and operational guidelines.

Drawing inspiration from their peers, Nashville could look at New York City which stood as an example by passing a law in 2020. NYC mandated that all new buildings, along with those buildings undergoing exterior glazing alterations, should use bird-friendly glass. The standard set the boundary up to 75 feet high floors.

Role of Community Groups

As a strong advocate of bird safety, multiple community groups have been actively working in this area. For instance, The American Bird Conservancy offers a guide for developers suggesting how they can design bird-friendly buildings. Further, a community group called Bird Safe Nashville recommends that homeowners and renters could upgrade their windows by adding simple treatments like netting or film.

Bird Safety Advocacy

Moreover, Bird Safe Nashville also encourages residents and businesses to turn off unnecessary lights at night, especially during the spring and fall migrations. This action could reduce the chances of birds crashing into buildings.

While the proposal focusing on reducing bird collisions is a significant step, it needs strict enforcement to cause a considerable impact. With such measures in place, it is believed that the birds in Nashville will be able to navigate the cityscape more safely.