Volunteer Training: Bird-Window Collision Monitoring

Between 365 and 988 million birds are killed annually by building collisions (Loss et al. 2014), and in the Greater Lansing area volunteers found more than 140 deceased birds below windows in 2018 during spring and fall monitoring periods.

Window collision monitoring will continue in 2019, beginning March 15, with volunteers monitoring buildings in downtown Lansing and on the Michigan State University campus. We are seeking volunteers who are able to walk a short route around one or more building(s) at least two times per week, looking on the ground for injured or deceased birds. Volunteers will collect deceased bird specimens and record information about the building and location of the bird. The information we collect through these surveys will be used to inform building owners and businesses about best practices to reduce collisions with glass. Bird specimens are donated to the MSU Museum for research and/or display purposes.

For more information and to sign up for a volunteer training session, contact Michigan Audubon Conservation Program Coordinator Linnea Rowse at lrowse@michiganaudubon.org.

This training will take place in the Auditorium of the MSU Museum.