"These birds are doing a really hazardous thing, and we make it even more hazardous by putting buildings along the lakefront," said John Bates, curator of the division of birds at the Field Museum.Ĭhicago has been ranked as the most dangerous city for migratory birds in North America by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This would have global implications, as birds are a critical part of controlling insects, distributing seeds, and pollinating plants. That's just what we've found, and what people report to us," she said.Ī study published in June found that bird collision mortality could be reduced by about 60% if artificial light was cut in half. Researchers from the Field Museum are now also going out across Illinois to conduct a spring species count from the ground.ĬBCM volunteer groups collect up to 7,000 birds each year, about a quarter of which are injured, said Prince. Using weather surveillance radar techniques, real-time bird migration numbers can be found online at BirdCast. They take the injured ones to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn for rehabilitation and care, and take thousands of dead birds each year to the Field Museum, where they are added to the collection for documentation and research. Prince said after a night like Thursday, it's not uncommon for people to look out onto rooftops from their downtown offices and find them littered with dead and dying birds.ĭuring key migration months-spring and fall-CBCM leads volunteer groups ranging between eight and 20 people to walk around skyscrapers and scoop up fallen flyers. This morning, the CBCM hotline was swamped with calls from people around the city. They navigate using the moon and stars, but artificial light from city buildings can skew their flight and make them crash into glass. "It would have been just a matter of seconds before a car came and ran him over."īirds fly at night to protect themselves from predators. "He couldn't even move, he just sat there blinking and hurt," she said. On her way to work this morning, Prince found a little bird in the street, stunned. Thousands of birds carpeted the sky last night, according to Annette Prince, director and president of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, a nonprofit dedicated to the respite and protection of migratory birds through daily rescue efforts, when on Thursday Chicago experienced a drastic shift in wind patterns moving up from the south, prompting waves of birds to pass through downtown looking for green space to settle.Ĭhicago is located on the Mississippi flyway, and birds pass through the city on their journey north toward Canada in search of a good place to nest and breed for the summer.
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