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PSF Fall Update 8

Dear PSF volunteers and friends,

This season is truly full of surprises. We all thought that the peak of the fall season passed by, when a new wave of birds flew in to create a third peak for this season.

In this update, I will rank our top ten species that collided with buildings in NYC this past season including total numbers and their migration pattern.

But first, I wish to share with you the fact that our database is now over 5,000 birds and that this will assist NYC Audubon in its research efforts. I wish to thank all the volunteers who contributed to creating this amazing resource of data. Also, our two month study has ended last Sunday, and I am happy to announce that it was very successful and that the data we gathered will generate very interesting findings.

THANK YOU ALL!!

The numbers for this fall season now reach 740 birds with 119 injured. This past week alone, volunteers witnessed 112 collisions, with 14 injured. Our busiest day of the year was actually last Friday, November 3^rd, when we collected 82 birds in one day, mostly at Morgan Mail (58) and at the Javits (21). Ann Galloway picked up 44 birds on her morning route at Morgan Mail, mostly Juncos. I am sorry that some volunteers have to experience terrible days like that; that isn’t much fun.

But hopefully, our efforts of documenting these collisions at this site will help bring an end to this problem soon. Indeed, the USPS agreed to retrofit their windows, but we have been experiencing some problems with the contractor. In short, we would like to let you know that we are working on it and that we are hopeful that a solution will rise very soon.

As for other Bird-Kill Zones, one of them being all the way out in Great Neck, Long Island, we have already approached the MET Museum and have a working relationship with them. Their preferred solution would be to put up netting in front of their huge reflective windows. We will keep you posted as to our progress. We are also talking to the building owners of the Great Neck site, and are hopeful that the data we helped collect this season will convince the owners to adopt one of our solutions. We are also in the progress of talking to the Director of Sustainability at the Battery Park City Authority, and so we are hopeful to begin making some inroads at the WFC site. Regarding Javits, we will begin a communication with them this winter to discuss ways to reduce collisions.

The following table shows the top ten species for this season. Together, these 10 bird species represent 64% of our findings, with the remaining 45 species totaling 262 birds. Interestingly enough, we actually might have two “winners” for first place, since the numbers are so close.

The graph below shows when the top ten species collided with structures as the season progressed.

Finally, here is a graph of showing total collision numbers by date.

I wish you all a great week and will send you the last update sometime in the next two weeks, confirming the final numbers and our top ten species list.

Until then, take care

Nicole