IDENTIFYING BIRD-WINDOW COLLISIONS ON A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS DURING SPRING AND FALL MIGRATION

Birds in flight have difficulty detecting glass and often collide with windows because of glass reflectivity. Based on estimates, window collisions may account for up to one billion avian mortalities in the U.S. each year. Research has shown that bird-window collisions occur on university campuses and kill a diverse array of bird species. During a 16-month period, student volunteers surveyed bird mortality from window collisions at twelve buildings on the Ball State University campus in Muncie, Indiana. We compared migration phenology, identified species and families, and determined the most problematic buildings for bird mortality from window collisions. From August 2014 - May 2016, 158 carcasses representing 46 species from 18 families were collected. The greatest number of deaths occurred in the families Parulidae (n = 40), Turdidae (n = 38), and Passerellidae (n = 26). Long- and short-distant migrants made up the bulk of bird-window collisions (85%) compared to resident species (15%). Overall, collisions were highest during fall migration, but the greatest number of deaths occurred in May 2016. There were three "hotspots" on campus with the highest number of collisions: Worthen Arena (n = 39), Bracken Library (n = 38), and the Architecture Building (n = 38). Studies of bird-window collisions on university campuses present hands-on learning opportunities for students with a real world conservation problem and a leadership opportunity for universities to implement measures to become a more environmentally sustainable and bird safe campus.