The Yale Bird-Friendly Building Initiative

Scientists estimate that up to one billion birds are killed by window collisions every year in North America. Building collisions are among the leading causes of bird deaths, but the staggering severity of this problem is not yet widely recognized or acted upon by the public, by policymakers, or by large institutions. The Yale Bird-Friendly Building Initiative aims to accelerate the adoption of bird-safe building design on Yale’s campus and beyond through two initial research projects. The first will focus on monitoring and developing a plan to significantly reduce bird-window collisions on Yale’s campus, providing a helpful model for other institutions to follow. The second project will focus on researching and developing innovative public policy proposals at the city, state, and national levels to accelerate the adoption of bird-friendly design nationwide.