Meeting addresses birds vs. buildings problem

Birds flying into buildings ”“ a phenomenon that prompts curiosity and high-stakes design problems and that happens millions of times each year in the U.S. ”“ gets an airing Wednesday night in Greenwich.

Greenwich Audubon, window maker Andersen Corp. and Interstate and Lakeland Lumber in Greenwich will host a seminar titled “Bird-Friendly Building Design: Identifying Problems, Providing Solutions” at Greenwich Window Treatments, 79 E. Putnam Ave., Greenwich.

The featured speaker is Christine Sheppard, collisions program manager for the American Bird Conservancy.  Sheppard”™s presentation, according to a press release provided by Westchester County-based builders Murphy Brothers Contracting, will help identify current best practices in reducing bird collisions for new design and the integration of bird-friendly architecture with other aspects of green design.

The Murphy statement said, “Birds by the hundreds of millions are killed yearly by colliding with glass in the U.S. alone. Birds cannot see glass, striking it as they fly toward reflections of clouds, sky and vegetation or as they approach real habitat seen through glass. Birds collide with glass on structures of every size, from shacks to skyscrapers, in urban, suburban and rural area.”

And, the statement said, “Advances in technology are increasing use of glass curtain walls and other large glass features, increasing the rate of bird mortality.”