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Toronto is making its new buildings bird safe

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There's a very inspiring story on the BBC website this morning which comes from the Canadian city of Toronto.

The good people of Toronto have been working hard to make their buildings safer for birds.  The city sits on a major route for migratory birds - and many of those birds are flying into buildings and a good number of them are killed doing so.  They get confused by the glass and its reflections. 

So they city has come up with five ways in which to make the windows safer for birds.  Since 2010, developers have had to meet bird safety standards. 

  1. Have less glass in new buildings (which also helps insulate the buildings better)
  2. Put markings on the glass so that birds can see it
  3. Recess windows to stop reflections
  4. Use shutters or sun-shades to hide glass
  5. Switch off lights so that birds aren't drawn to them

Some older buildings have been made more bird safe as well.  In one case, 100 birds had been found to have died at a building.  Markers were put up to show the glass to the birds and since then, just 1 or 2 a year have been found, so it has made a difference.

The more birds who make it to the northern forests to breed, the better for birdlife and for all of us. 

Click here to fly away to the BBC's website to watch the video.


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