Migrating songbirds, such as this Palm Warbler, will benefit greatly from Madison’s new bird-safe glass ordinance.

As the capitol city of Wisconsin and home of the University of Wisconsin, it was big news when the city of Madison’s Common Council unanimously adopted the state’s first bird-friendly building ordinance. The city-wide ordinance will require new large construction and expansion projects to use modern bird-safe materials and strategies that allow birds to see glass. The new requirements, which go into effect October 1st, are expected to dramatically reduce bird mortalities in the metro area.

The new ordinance was introduced by Alders Marsha Rummel and Keith Furman, it was drafted by Madison city staff, and revised with input from the American Bird Conservancy (ABC).

“The well-being of birds and people in Wisconsin are very intertwined, from the economic benefits of tourism and birding to free services like pest control and pollination,” said Matt Reetz, Executive Director of Madison Audubon, one of the organizations that has been advocating for the ordinance. “We really must do what we can to protect birds, and this is a straightforward and important step in doing so. I'm proud of our city for taking this step.”

The ordinance was developed by the City of Madison, in consultation with planners from other cities that have implemented similar bird-friendly standards. A coalition of local environmental groups studying the bird-collision problem in Madison also provided strong support for the ordinance. This group, called the Bird Collision Corps, is coordinated by Madison Audubon, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Facilities Planning and Management Department and the UW Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, the Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center, and American Bird Conservancy.

“The City of Madison’s unanimous adoption of bird-friendly building standards puts it at the front of a growing movement of communities that are doing their part to save the nearly 1 billion birds that die after colliding with glass in the U.S. each year,” said Bryan Lenz, ABC’s Glass Collisions Program Manager who has been involved in the Bird Collision Corps and the development of the Madison ordinance. He added: “Saving birds is the right thing to do, both ethically and for a healthy environment.”

Research shows that residences that are one to three stories tall account for 43 percent of collision-related fatalities, while 56 percent of collisions happen at low-rise buildings (4 to 11 floors). Those two categories of buildings account for most of Madison’s cityscape. Only 0.1 percent of bird deaths happen from collisions with buildings 12 stories or higher.

“It is my hope that with greater understanding and appreciation of birds in the design process, we can ensure our buildings on campus do less harm,” said Aaron Williams, who is UW-Madison Facilities Planning and Management’s Assistant Campus Planner and Landscape Architect, and one of the major partners on this project. He continued, “We can design and build for greater equity and purpose in regard to the natural world. What’s good for birds is ultimately good for the rest of us.”

Brenna Marsicek, Communications and Outreach Director with Madison Audubon and Coordinator of the Bird Collision Corps, noted: “Madison’s new city ordinance is a great start and will be a really important conservation tool to protect birds from preventable deaths. It would be great to see other cities in the area adopt similar requirements, to make this a better place in general for birds.”

Leading up to this encouraging news, in July 2019, the US House of Representatives passed HR 919, the Bird-Save Buildings Act, to reduce bird mortality by calling for federal buildings to incorporate bird-safe building materials and design features. This is on the heels of the New York City Council passing the country’s most comprehensive bird-friendly buildings law in December 2019.

“Bird-friendly building design should not be seen as an add-on or an extra,” said Dr. Christine Sheppard, Glass Collisions Program Director for American Bird Conservancy. “Many strategies for controlling heat, light, and even security can be bird-friendly strategies too. These can be incorporated into almost any building style, but should be built into project design from the outset to minimize additional costs. That’s why this kind of legislation is so important.” Fortunately, both home and commercial windows can easily be made safe for birds.

You can read the Madison ordinance at https://madison.legistar.com/ViewReport.ashx?M=R&N=Text&GID=205&ID=4026260&GUID=B7D2A103-B19F-4F20-96F2-14A2E27FD393&Title=Legislation+Text To refer to the original American Bird Conservancy article and related information, see https://abcbirds.org/article/madison-bird-friendly-building-ordinance-passed/