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Imagine going on a long
trip with an ancient map as your only guide. You stop
to refuel and rest where your ancestors have stopped
for generations past, but the area has been bulldozed
and there’s no place to eat or sleep. In addition,
there are hazards along the route that you cannot
recognize as such – radio and television towers,
power lines, cooling towers, emission stacks, office
buildings, and residential housing. “Confused
by artificial lights, blinded by weather, and unable
to see glass, birds by the hundreds and even thousands
can be injured or killed in one night at one building.”
(www.flap.org) Such is the fate of our migrating birds,
all this and more. Each bird that returns in the spring
is a small miracle.
While most collisions happen during spring and fall
migration, birds hit windows all year long –
our windows. And one researcher estimates that about
half of the window strikes result in death. How can
we improve the odds?
When a bird hits your window, pick it up and place
it in a cardboard box with a ventilated lid. If there
is no evidence of injury, put the box in a dark, warm,
quiet place where it will be safe from cats and other
predators, and leave it there for an hour. Then take
the box outside and open it. Many times the bird will
fly off. If not, or if the bird seems injured when
you first pick it up, it should be taken to a licensed
wildlife rehabilitator as quickly as possible since
some medications must be given within a few hours
of impact.
Another way to help is to make window strikes less
likely to happen. For a list of ideas, and for more
information on the scope of this problem, visit www.flap.org
(Fatal Light Awareness Program).
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