# Toronto Urged to Dim Building Lights to Save the Birds



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Birds dying in skyscraper collisions causes a flap in Toronto *










OTTAWA, March 9, 2006 (AFP) - Animal rights groups pleaded Thursday with Toronto office and apartment building owners to dim their lights at night to reduce the staggering number of bird deaths due to collisions with lit skyscrapers. 

To make their point, Toronto Wildlife Centre and the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) set up a gruesome display at the Royal Ontario Museum this week of some 2,000 birds lured to their deaths by the bright lights of Canada's largest city. 

The 89 species scraped off downtown Toronto sidewalks during the 2005 migratory season included blue jays, sparrows, woodpeckers, pigeons, hummingbirds and chickadees. 

"There are so many advantages to turning off the lights, not just for the birds. People would save millions of dollars in energy costs, lower pollution emissions, and maybe enjoy a starry night," said FLAP executive director Michael Mesure. 

Thousands of birds die in collisions each year in Toronto, he estimates. Others pegged the number of deaths in North America at 97 million. 

Some fly headlong into windows, crushing their skulls. Others circle until they drop from exhaustion or crash into other birds drawn to the same lights. 

Toronto is considering a novel law to force tower developers to reduce dangers to fowl. 

"Most people probably haven't thought about this problem because janitors have swept away all the dead birds by the time they get to work in the morning, but it's a growing concern," said councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker who introduced the motion. 

The new guidelines expected in mid-2006 would encourage the use of bird-friendly glass, restrict outdoor "vanity" lighting and require more light switches, he said. 

In many older buildings, a single switch controls all the lights, making it impossible to dim individual offices or floors if someone is working late.


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## Chewbacca (Sep 11, 2002)

bird flu will solve that


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## rise_against (Apr 26, 2005)

^^LOL thats all we need


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## spyguy (Apr 16, 2005)

Same thing happens with NYC and Chicago.


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## Icanseeformiles (Jun 22, 2004)

it's not the bloody birds that are attacted to the light, it's the insects attracted by the lights and the birds are just attracted for a feed.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Mayor asks Toronto to put lights out at night: To save migrating birds *
Michael Peeling 
National Post
12 April 2006

City hall yesterday announced a lights-out-at-night campaign to help prevent migrating birds from crashing into high-rise buildings. 

Businesses and residents are asked to turn off unnecessary lights, especially in tall buildings that fall in the migration paths of birds in the spring and autumn. 

It will help spare the hundreds of birds killed annually when they fly into towers, and also conserve energy. 

"Although we live in Canada's largest urban centre, Torontonians care enormously about nature and the wildlife of our city," said Mayor David Miller, pointing out many bird-lovers come to the city to watch birds migrate. 

Natalie Karvonen, executive director of Toronto Wildlife Centre, said it took in roughly 1,000 birds last year, but few survived. She recalled one day when 180 injured birds came to the centre. 

"These little migrants are very hard to treat," Ms. Karvonen said. "You can't put an IV drip into a four-ounce bird." 

Injured birds have been brought there since 1993 by volunteers with the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP). 

"People used to see us out there with our nets and think we were crazy," said executive director Michael Mesure. "Now people come up and hand us injured birds." 

City buildings already have a lights-out policy after 6 p.m. The Mayor says that at Metro Hall alone 4 million kilowatts of energy have been saved per year, which has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 2,400 tons and saved the city $200,000 per year. 

"It's good for the birds, it's good for the environment and it's cheaper," Mr. Miller said. 

Joyce McLean, director of strategic issues at Toronto Hydro, noted the Edison Centre at Yonge and Eglinton has gone from consuming 4.2 million kilowatts in 1995 to 2.2 million this past year, which translates to a savings of $187,000 per year. 

"You may be aware that we have a bit of an electricity [shortage] issue in the province of Ontario," Ms. McLean said. "We have been very active in promoting many different kinds of conservation programs. Turning your lights off after 11 [p.m.] is just another example of how you can save money, save electricity, and save birds, so we're very keen on this program." 

Toronto is developing bird-friendly guidelines that would include a ban on building lights that shine up into the sky. Mr. Miller said Toronto is the first North American city to develop such guidelines.


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## zerokarma (May 29, 2005)

It will fall on deaf ears...


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

I think if dimming the lights at night will take place, it will be due to cost and energy conservation, not saving the birds.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Skyscraper `Lights Out' is for the birds, in a good way*
A proposal to reduce late-night glare from tall buildings during migrations could save millions of birds a year, experts say. 
14 February 2007
Star-Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1000712.html

It's a mystery of migration. Each year, thousands of ruby-throated hummingbirds, colorful warblers and other neo-tropical birds navigate safely across the countryside, only to be lured to their deaths by the bright lights of the cities. 

Scientists say urban lighting can throw migrating birds seriously off-course. And on overcast or rainy nights, lighted skyscrapers can confuse the nocturnal travelers, causing them to circle in the glow until they die of fatigue. 

In the Twin Cities, a group of avian advocates plans to ask high-rise building owners to turn off unnecessary interior and exterior lights from midnight until dawn during spring and fall migrations. Their goal? To ensure a safer passage for millions of birds along the Mississippi Flyway. 

"It's hard to know how many birds we can save," said Mark Martell, director of bird conservation for Audubon Minnesota. 

"The Mississippi flyway is a huge flyway, so the potential could be high, but we don't know that. But in a way it doesn't matter. Turning out these lights will not only save birds, it will save energy," Martell said. 

The "Lights Out - Twin Cities" program is based on similar campaigns in Toronto, New York, Chicago and Detroit. In Minnesota it's being promoted by experts from Audubon, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the University of Minnesota and the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. 

The group, working with building owners, hopes to have the program in place by mid-March, just as the first robins, ruby-crowned kinglets and other colorful migrants begin to arrive. 

"We're open to the idea," said Kent Warden, executive director of the Greater Minneapolis Building Owners & Managers Association. "But we're waiting to hear more. Surely the success in other cities does give it credibility." 

*Glass also is a problem *

Birds are more likely to crash into reflective glass on a building of any size during daylight hours than at night, said Daniel Klem Jr., a biology professor and ornithologist at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn. But Klem, who has studied bird-glass collisions for more than 35 years, said lights-out programs help mitigate that by not attracting birds to the dangerous urban environment in the first place. 

"Anywhere from 100 million to a billion die each year during the daytime strikes," Klem said. "It's lights that can bring them into the danger zones." 

Actual numbers of birds killed are hard to determine, said Michael Mesure, executive director of Toronto's Fatal Light Awareness Program, or FLAP. Last year, a small number of volunteers in the 14-year-old program collected 5,500 dead or injured birds from Toronto's downtown area. 

"Wherever you have glass, you're pretty well guaranteed you're going to kill birds," he said. "If you take a conservative estimate that one to 10 birds will die each year on any human-built structure, that's up to 10 million birds in the Toronto area alone. But Toronto is a little dot on the horizon of North America. If you take all the human-built structures, the numbers are mind-boggling." 

Scavengers also take a toll on exhausted birds that land and are too weak to resume flying, Mesure said. 

"They're cleaned up very quickly by gulls, crows, raccoons, squirrels or other birds," he said. "Scavengers in any urban area have learned about this alternative food source." 

Since 1993, when FLAP helped Toronto become the first city to embrace a "Lights-Out" program, urban areas across the continent have begun their own programs. Economic benefits help convince skeptics: Last year, Toronto officials saved more than $200,000 by turning off lights at the city's municipal building, one of more than 100 buildings that voluntarily participate. The city recently implemented a migratory-bird protection policy that regulates light from existing buildings and develops guidelines for bird-friendly design in new construction. 
*
Humble beginnings *

Minnesota's program began when Joanna Eckles, a former bird trainer at the Minnesota Zoo who now works for the World Parrot Trust, decided to research the problem. For several days during last fall's migration, she checked the bases of downtown buildings for injured and dead birds. She found more than 300. 

"It wasn't scientific research," she said. "I have another job and young kids at home, so I just did what I could." 

Alarmed, Eckles met with Audubon's Martell in October, and by November, other agencies had joined the cause. Groups in Bloomington, Duluth and St. Cloud have expressed interest in bringing programs to their cities, Eckles said. 

Human safety concerns aren't dismissed - Eckles said street-level and aviation lights would not be affected, for example. 

Building owners would be asked to turn off their lights from midnight until dawn, March 15 through May 31, and then Aug. 15 through Oct. 31, the peak migratory periods for birds in the Twin Cities. 

"The great thing about Lights Out is that there are so many additional benefits," Eckles said. "Energy savings, and a reduction of CO2 emissions. But our primary focus is saving birds, because that's what we love." 

LIGHTS OUT PROGRAM 

For more information about Toronto's program, go to 

www.flap.org 

*City lights, fatal flights *

There are about 200 species of birds that migrate between Canada and the United States and warmer climates every year. Night-flying migrating birds, especially songbirds such as warblers, thrushes and vireos are known to become fatally attracted to artificial light. 
*
THE PROBLEM *

- Birds are attracted to lighted windows and light beams and are reluctant to leave them. The birds often flap within a beam or around lighted buildings until they land on or fall to the ground exhausted. 

- Those that remain in the urban environment can have trouble foraging enough food to regain their strength or become confused by reflective surfaces and crash into them. 

- Some exhausted birds are taken by predators. 

*WHY SONGBIRDS? *

- They fly at low enough altitudes to encounter tall buildings. 

- They cannot see well at night, especially in bad weather. Why migrate at night? They take advantage of calmer winds, cooler temperaturess and foraging time during the day. 

*LIGHTED OBSTACLES: *

- Tall buildings. 

- Communication towers. 

- Lighthouses. 

- Bright, upward-pointing light beams such as those at airports. 

Experts suggest that non-essential exterior and interior lights in tall buildings be turned off between 11 p.m. and dawn during migratory periods. 

*MAJOR CITIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY *

Migratory flyways 

- Metropolitan areas with an east-west distance greater than 15 miles, population greater than 1,000,000 

Twin Cities 
Kansas City 
St. Louis 
Milwaukee 
Chicago 
Indianapolis 
Columbus 
Detroit 
Cleeland 
Toronto, Canada 

- Metropolitan areas with an east-west distance greater than 15 miles, population 100,000 to 1,000,000 

St. Cloud 
Rochester, Mn. 
Memphis 
Baton Rouge 
New Orleans 
Birmingham 
Nashville 
Louisville 
Cincinnati 
Toledo 

Sources: Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center; Fatal Light Awareness Program; World Wildlife Fund


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## Sukino (Feb 11, 2006)

Good job. It will also help with light pollution. It's not that bad to be able to actually see stars at night.


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## Wallbanger (Mar 8, 2005)

Hahahahah yes save the birds please do but ah forget about low flying planes who cares?


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## algonquin (Sep 24, 2004)

Hire some Falconers to scare the birds away.. I heard once that's what they do sometimes at airports to keep them gull-free.


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

It would probably save energy costs too.


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## UD2 (Jan 21, 2006)

but just imagine downtown Toronto being pitch black during night. It won't be really nice.


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## Cliff (Dec 5, 2002)

But if you off the lights, the birds cant see the buildings at night, and crash anyway.


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## 1ajs (Jul 21, 2005)

save the turtles  if any one listened to rush bimbob in late jan... you would know wtf i am quoteing 


for though who have no clue: he was going on about turltes and how he can't have his lights turned on from march to sept at night but construction along the sea wall is going on now cause of the turtles and they are going till the end of april... he was piss off about that lol


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

It's dimming lights, not turning them all off. Or you can stagger the lights that are on.


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## CrazyCanuck (Oct 9, 2004)

UD2 said:


> but just imagine downtown Toronto being pitch black during night. It won't be really nice.


Looks fine to me, what do you think?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*After bird strikes, NYC building dims its reflective panels *
22 September 2007

NEW YORK (AP) - Manhattan's towering buildings have long posed a deadly flight hazard to migrating birds. Every year, an untold number of winged travelers get disoriented by the bright lights and reflective glass, and smack into the side of a skyscraper. 

But the caretakers of one of the worst bird traps, a big U.S. Postal Service complex, has made changes they hope will limit the damage. 

Officials spent $201,000 this year to take some of the gleam out of 440 reflective glass panels on one side of the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center, which sits a few blocks from the Hudson River. 

The panels were apparently reflecting nearby trees, making approaching birds think they were flying in to a safe place to nest. 

Last year, the Audubon Society recorded 338 fatal bird strikes at the building in just a few weeks. One volunteer, Ann Galloway, told The New York Times she watched 44 birds crash into the building during one half-hour period on Nov. 4. 

"They were literally dropping," she said. "It was awful." 

This summer, the panels were covered over with a black vinyl film. The solution appears to be working so far, Audubon officials said. No deaths have been recorded yet, although the migration season is still young. 

The owners of much taller landmarks, including the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center, dim their lights at midnight during the peak of the seasonal overflights to keep them from confusing the birds.


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## FK (Oct 24, 2004)

CrazyCanuck said:


> Looks fine to me, what do you think?


Doesnt look too bad.


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## flesh_is_weak (Jun 16, 2006)

i remember rescuing a drowning pigeon in front of the conservatory at Temperance Street...i regretted it later coz i got a rash from the dirty water :lol:


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Bird lovers FLAP to save lives of feathered friends
Program asks residents and businesses to turn off their lights and prevent the deaths of thousands*
8 April 2008
The Toronto Star

Michael Mesure says saving birds from flying into buildings at night could be the easiest environmental problem in the world to solve.

"Just flick a switch," he said.

Mesure told a Toronto City Hall audience yesterday that bright lights in buildings are one of the leading causes of bird deaths across North America, laying waste to everything from tiny warblers to large, predatory birds who run into windows.

"If you look at the larger picture of preserving wildlife, it's interesting how people will sooner try to save the lives of the snow leopard or the panda bear on some far-off continent rather than try to conserve the lives of the wood thrush or the Peregrine falcon, which lives right on our doorstep in Toronto," said Mesure, executive director of the Fatal Light Awareness Program, or FLAP.

Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre) said some of the birds that die each year "are smaller than a cellphone and weigh less than a pack of Trident gum."

Mayor David Miller also was on hand yesterday to help launch the third annual Lights Out Toronto campaign, a program aimed at getting the city's business people and residents to flick their switches at night and reduce the number of bird deaths.

FLAP has been around since 1993 but it still faces a huge problem with birds running into large buildings, both during the day and when they're attracted by bright lights at night, Mesure said.

More than 3,000 birds were picked up by volunteers on Toronto streets last year.

That total is down from 5,500 or so the year before, but Mesure noted that overall bird migration numbers in the city also were down in 2007.

The city of Toronto has passed a set of "bird-friendly" guidelines aimed at helping developers plan safer buildings.

The voluntary program touches on everything from reducing external lighting on buildings to creating smaller openings in air conditioning grates so birds can't fall through.

Miller said that cities in Europe and all over North America have contacted Toronto to find out more about the city's bird protection policies.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Mirrored towers a fatal attraction to birds*
March 08, 2010
Toronto Star

Shanta Persaud was standing at the photocopier one morning when she saw a little bird fly directly into a large window on the ground floor of her Scarborough office building. The receptionist ran outside to find the bird on the ground, gasping for its last breath. 

It “just hit the glass and fell to the ground. It sounded like a pebble against the glass,” she said. “It’s so sad.” And it wasn’t the first time she’d seen this happen.

For birds migrating through Toronto each spring and fall, the three multi-storey office buildings at 100, 200 and 300 Consilium Place are a death-trap. So much so that last week, the environmental groups Ontario Nature and Ecojustice — formerly the Sierra Legal Defence Fund — initiated a private prosecution against the buildings’ managers under the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act.

The buildings, near Highway 401 and McCowan Rd. are covered in mirrored glass and as high as 17 storeys. They stand out in an area with few highrises, making them even more lethal than buildings downtown.

In 2008-2009, more than 800 birds were recovered from the lawns around the buildings, ironic considering that the Building Owners and Managers Association had awarded the complex its “Go Green certificate of achievement” for its environmental practices.

Over the past decade, more than 7,000 birds of 82 species have met harsh, painful deaths after flying into what bird safety advocate Michael Mesure calls “the most reflective glass windows of any building in the city.”

The action against management company Menkes alleges that the building’s reflectivity has caused death and injury to birds, including species in decline, and, with respect to animal cruelty legislation, has put animals in distress.

“If you see these buildings, these are essentially mirrors,” said Ecojustice lawyer, Albert Koehl. “What the birds see is the sky and trees reflected in the windows, and they fly right into them.”

Most daytime collisions actually happen between ground level and the fourth floor. 

“Most of these birds die of traumatic injuries such as fractured skulls or broken backs,” Koehl said. The broader issue, he adds, is the decline in migratory birds observed year after year. 

The high incidence of bird deaths caused by hitting buildings has been a significant concern for years. The non-profit group Fatal Light Awareness Program has tracked bird deaths in Toronto for more than a decade and initiated campaigns such as Lights Out Toronto to encourage building managers to turn lights off at night. (Nighttime lights confuse and attract birds into office windows.)

But this is the first time the law has been invoked in an attempt to change business behavior. Caroline Schultz, executive director of Ontario Nature, says most companies have refused to take any real action. 

“There has been nothing specific in terms of legal action to really force business owners to seriously review the options that are available to them to reduce the problem,” said Schultz. “That’s the reason for doing this private prosecution, because this is the worst building in Toronto in terms of bird deaths every year.

“Opportunities exist to do things to mitigate the problem, and what we really want to do is to set a precedent that business owners have a responsibility under the law to do this,” she said. “It’s not voluntary.” 

Menkes is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice on March 17. The maximum fine under the EPA is $6 million per day for the first offence. 

The building owner didn’t respond to numerous calls for comment on the charges or efforts to address the problem. 

Toronto is on the migratory path for millions of birds, said Mesure, FLAP’s executive director. The spring migratory period begins next week and will go until the beginning of June. The fall migration runs from August to the end of October. 

Mesure has worked on the issue for 20 years, but vividly recalls two “days of hell” at the Consilium towers when it seemed to be “raining birds.” On May 12, 2001, he said, FLAP volunteers recovered more than 500 injured or dead birds in six hours. On a Thanksgiving weekend in 2005, the group picked up 400 birds over two days. 

In the past few years, the building managers have made attempts to address the problem. According to Persaud, employees have been told to report falling birds and to turn the lights off and put down blinds at night. They have also tried tactics to scare the birds away, such as hanging large orange balls from surrounding trees, and placing silhouettes of hawks and owls inside the windows. 

But Mesure says Menkes has been reluctant to do anything more because the only real solution involves changing the aesthetics of the building. 

“The only solution is to create patterns on the outside of the glass, so that the bird interprets the glass as a solid object,” he said. “The argument has always been that (owners) don’t want to change to look of the building.”


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## DHLawrence (Jun 20, 2009)

I would think that buildings would be more hazardous during the day than at night because of the reflections.


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## Dimethyltryptamine (Aug 22, 2009)

^^+1. I've had so many birds crash into my windows during the day, even into the windows of my house.


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## Ukraine (Apr 2, 2009)

save birds?.....:lol:
stupid idea


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Building hit with legal action over deadly avian accidents *
9 March 2010
The Toronto Star

Shanta Persaud was standing at the photocopier one morning when she saw a little bird fly directly into a large window on the ground floor of her Scarborough office building. The receptionist ran outside to find the dying bird on the ground.

It "just hit the glass and fell to the ground. It sounded like a pebble against the glass," she said. "It's so sad." And it wasn't the first time she'd seen this happen.

For birds migrating through Toronto each spring and fall, the three multi-storey office buildings at 100, 200 and 300 Consilium Place are a death trap. So much so that, last week, the environmental groups Ontario Nature and Ecojustice - formerly the Sierra Legal Defence Fund - initiated a private prosecution against the buildings' managers under the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The towers, near Highway 401 and McCowan Rd., are covered in mirrored glass and are as high as 17 storeys. They stand out in an area with few high-rises, making them more lethal than buildings downtown.

In 2008-2009, more than 800 birds were recovered from the lawns around the complex, ironic considering it was awarded a "Go Green certificate of achievement" for its environmental practices by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Toronto. Go Green certificates are most commonly awarded for energy efficiency.

Over the past decade, more than 7,000 birds of 82 species have met painful deaths after flying into what bird safety advocate Michael Mesure calls "the most reflective glass windows of any building in the city."

Among the birds most commonly injured or killed at the site between 2000 and 2006 were the White-throated Sparrow, the Golden-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and the Dark-eye Junco.

The action against management company Menkes alleges that the buildings' reflectivity has caused death and injury to birds, including species in decline, and, with respect to animal cruelty legislation, has put animals in distress.

"If you see these buildings, these are essentially mirrors," said Ecojustice lawyer Albert Koehl. "What the birds see is the sky and trees reflected in the windows, and they fly right into them."

Most daytime collisions actually happen between ground level and the fourth floor.

"Most of these birds die of traumatic injuries such as fractured skulls or broken backs," Koehl said. The broader issue, he adds, is the decline in migratory birds observed year after year.

The non-profit group Fatal Light Awareness Program has tracked bird deaths in Toronto for more than a decade and initiated campaigns such as Lights Out Toronto to encourage building managers to turn lights off at night, so as not to attract birds.

Caroline Schultz of Ontario Nature says most firms have refused to take real action.

"There has been nothing specific in terms of legal action to really force business owners to seriously review the options that are available to them to reduce the problem," said Schultz. "That's the reason for doing this private prosecution, because this is the worst building in Toronto in terms of bird deaths every year.

"Opportunities exist to do things to mitigate the problem, and what we really want to do is to set a precedent that business owners have a responsibility under the law to do this," she said. "It's not voluntary."

Menkes is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice on March 17.

The building owner didn't respond to numerous calls for comment on the charges.

Toronto is on the migratory path for millions of birds, said Mesure, FLAP's executive director. The spring migratory period begins next week and will go until early June. The fall migration runs from August to the end of October.

Mesure has worked on the issue for 20 years, but recalls two "days of hell" at the Consilium towers when it seemed to be "raining birds." On May 12, 2001, he said, FLAP volunteers recovered 500 injured or dead birds in six hours. On a Thanksgiving weekend in 2005, the group picked up 400 birds over two days.

In the past few years, the building managers have made attempts to address the problem. According to Persaud, employees have been told to report falling birds and to turn the lights off and put down blinds at night. They have also tried tactics to scare the birds away, such as hanging orange balls from surrounding trees, and placing silhouettes of hawks and owls in windows.

But Mesure says Menkes has been reluctant to do anything more because the only real solution involves changing the aesthetics of the building.


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## htpwn (Jan 12, 2010)

Yes... I'm sure the company loves having birds fly into the side of their building, thanks activistshno:


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## Spoolmak (Aug 4, 2007)

FK said:


> Doesnt look too bad.


Thats because thats a silhouette. Once it gets real dark... it may not. Besides, wont it be worse for the birds if they cant see the light? How would they know if a building is there? and, if it happens during the day, what does light have to do with anything


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## Soapy (Jan 27, 2010)

All birds do is poop, why save them? I call HUNTING SEASON in America's hat.


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## krkseg1ops (Mar 19, 2009)

^^ All people do is poop as well. They sometimes kill their own kin, too. I call it hunting season!


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Dim the lights, save the birds: US conservationists*
23 September 2010
AFP

New York's lit-up skyline, which brightens the nocturnal cityscape delighting residents and tourists alike, is a menace to migrating birds, say ornithologists calling for the lights to be dimmed.

Bird lovers said illuminated buildings confuse migrating birds, who find it hard at night to distinguish between bright electric lights and those of the celestial variety.

During their spring and fall migrations, birds are mostly nocturnal travelers and tall buildings make it difficult for them to chart their course.

"At night, birds use the moon and the star map as a compass," said Dr Susan Elbin, ornithologist and director of conservation for the New York City Audubon society.

"When the sky is overcast or the moon is new, strong artificial lights coming from the city will distract them," she said.

"Any kind of deviation from their flight pattern could mean that the birds get exhausted and crash into something. Or they may just wind up fluttering, waiting to recover, and then take off into a glass pane reflecting the sky," Elbin said.

The Audubon Society is asking New Yorkers to turn off their lights at night during peak migration season, from September 1 to November 1.

It is the fifth year that Audubon has made the request of city officials and residents, and the group boasts a growing list of participants.

Buildings agreeing to hit the dimmer switch this year include some of New York's most iconic, including the Time-Warner Center, Rockefeller Center, and the Chrysler building.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Highland Park considering bird-friendly architecture for public buildings *
29 December 2010

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) - The city council in the northern Chicago suburb of Highland Park will soon consider a proposal to require bird-friendly construction for all new city buildings.

City officials tell the Chicago Tribune that if the new law is passed, all future public buildings would be required to incorporate bird-safe architecture that's designed to lower the number of bird collisions with buildings.

Private developers would not be affected, but Highland Park Director of Community Development Michael Blue says he hopes the city's example would influence them as well.

Bird-friendly architecture includes curved windows and awnings, which have been shown to lower the incidences of bird collisions with buildings.

Highland Park is in the flight path of a number of migrating birds that like to follow the Lake Michigan shoreline.

------

Information from: Chicago Tribune


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## ChitownCity (May 11, 2010)

I honestly find it extremely silly to use birds as an excuse. Now if they urged buildings to dim their lights for the sole purpose of saving the city money then I could advocate that...

I have a better idea to stop mass amounts of birds from crashing into buildings without effecting cities beautifully shining night skylines. Each super bright/(?)shiny(?) building should get a couple falcons or the city should get a team of falcons and/or hawks and release them during the night. I'm sure the other birds would learn that they are in unwanted territory and forge a new migrating path or just fly higher... 

either that or just say F**k the birds :thumbs up:....


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## Jack Daniel (Jun 6, 2008)

Thank God dinosaurs evolved into birds. Imagine a T-rex slamming into a skyscraper.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Dead-birds issue going to court next month *
March 09, 2011
Toronto Star
Curtis Rush 









_About 2,000 dead migratory birds were on display Wednesday, March 9, 2011, at the Royal Ontario Museum as part of an exhibit by the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP)._

For years, a volunteer group has been trying to get the message out about the migratory birds who die by slamming into the reflective glass of Toronto office buildings each year.

On Wednesday, they took this message to the Royal Ontario Museum, where they laid out close to 2,000 dead migratory birds on a canvas for the public to see.

And next month, they hope the message is further driven home in a Scarborough courtroom.

On April 7, the managers of The Consilium Place office towers in Scarborough will have to answer to charges under the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

“This could be a precedent-setting case and a conviction could send a message to other businesses,” said Albert Koehl, a lawyer for Ecojustice, which has brought the private charges.

The trial is expected to last six days and fines could be substantial, Koehl said. In addition, a provision could be made to order changes to the glass structure thought to be a prime killer of migratory birds.

The towers, near Highway 401 and McCowan Rd., are covered in mirrored glass and are as high as 17 storeys.

In 2008-2009, more than 800 birds were recovered from the lawns around the complex.

Michael Mesure, 47, executive director of the Fatal Light Awareness Program, said he’s frustrated that existing buildings in Toronto are not being mandated to make design changes to protect birds.

Under the city’s bird-friendly guidelines, new buildings must meet certain performance standards that involve muting reflections and treating glass with density patterns.

The executive director of FLAP said simple adjustments such as visual markings on glass windows can help give birds an alternative point of focus.

At the ROM on Wednesday, spectators watched as volunteers laid down the carcasses of migratory birds — everything from birds of prey to small song birds.

“It breaks my heart,” said Kathy Nosich, who works in the biodiversity program for Ontario Power Generation.

She said the display of birds who met their fate by colliding with glass structures brings home the message.

“Nothing tells this story better,” she said.

Mesure, who began FLAP in 1993, says many people remain “in denial” about the problem of dead birds because they don’t see carcasses lying on the streets and don’t realize the ecological benefits of making sure they survive.

“They eat thousands of insects,” he said.

Staff volunteers like Brian Armstrong, who sold his legal practice several years ago, begin patrols throughout the financial district at 4 a.m., collecting injured and dead birds.

The injured birds are taken to the Toronto Wildlife Centre if the gulls haven’t swooped down and taken them away first.

The migratory bird season begins in a few weeks and runs to June.


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## Elkhanan1 (Oct 21, 2007)

Toronto would save a lot more birds if it controlled the cats instead of dimming the lights. But I guess if it's cute, little kitty vs. evil, capitalist office tower, kitty's off the hook.











*Tweety Was Right: Cats Are a Bird’s No. 1 Enemy
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/science/21birds.html?src=me&ref=homepage*


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Boston Buildings Go Dark For Lights Out Program*
By Todd Gutner, WBZ-TV
September 30, 2011 11:26 PM

BOSTON (CBS) – Here’s a riddle. What’s dark and green all over? It’s the city of Boston as many of the towers which define the skyline are turning off their lights at night.

Jack Clarke of Mass Audubon coordinates the Lights Out program. He explained that the Hancock Tower, for example, starts dimming their architectural lights, and their interior lights above the 20th floor, from 11pm-5am..

This happens twice a year, during the spring and fall migratory bird seasons, when almost four dozen Boston skyscrapers participate.

WBZ-TV’s Todd Gutner reports

“We started out with half a dozen buildings three years ago; two years ago we were at 38 buildings; and tonight we are at 43,” said Clarke.

That’s good news for the birds according to Clarke. Thousands of birds die each year because of the lights when they are making their trek.

“They get caught up and distracted by the tall lit buildings in the Northeast,” explained Clarke. “They circle those buildings and they collide with those buildings, drop from exhaustion, and collide with each other.”

Turning out the lights can make good business sense for building owners. Energy is the largest operating expense for commercial buildings. Reducing power use also helps reduce carbon emissions.

“In this case, what is good for the birds is good for the people, and for all living and breathing creatures,” said Cindy Luppi, an environmentalist with Clean Water Action in Boston.

Cleaner air has real, direct health benefits said Luppi. “That reduction of pollution means that we have less health damage in our neighborhoods. There are fewer asthma attacks. There are also fewer emergency room visits that are the result of respiratory distress,” she added.

Clarke is proud of the program. “We have practically every one of the buildings that are over 20 floors participating. It’s a win-win and it doesn’t cost anything. It’s not a requirement. It’s voluntary.”

The current session of Lights Out will run until the end of October, which is the end of the fall migration season.

There are similar programs in Toronto, Chicago, and New York. Clarke would like to see the entire Northeast participate, stretching across to the Great Lake area.

A study in Chicago found the number of bird deaths dropped by 80% once the lights were tuned off.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*An important resource for Chicago wildlife rehabilitation*
http://www.examiner.com/animal-advo...-resource-for-chicago-wildlife-rehabilitation
_Excerpt_
October 30, 2011 

Many Chicagoans aren't aware that a wildlife rehabilitation center is located on the city's lakefront on Northerly Island in the former Meigs Field Terminal Building. The facility is the branch location of Barrington, IL headquartered Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

According to the center, "The proximity of Northerly Island is of benefit both to the residents of Chicago as well as to the animals we treat. Many injuries are time-sensitive, particularly acute trauma such as head trauma caused when the birds strike the window of Chicago's buildings. Early treatment means higher sucess rates. In fact birds treated at Northerly Island are 9% higher as compared to transporting animals to the suburbs for treatment."

Unfortunately, Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation can't afford to hire a full-time professional staff for its Northerly Island branch location causing the location to focus on stabilizing critically injured birds. Almost all of these injured birds are found on the streets and sidewalks of downtown Chicago. They are migratory birds whose flight takes them through downtown Chicago. Frequently they become confused by the glass windows of skyscrapers and fly into them.

Traumitized birds that must be kept for treatment for longer than one day are transferred to the main facility in suburban Barrington for medical care.

The location is equipped like a modern veterinarian's office. Although the facility has a professional staff, it doesn't have a full-time veterinarian staff. However, it is fortunate in that some of the best veterinarians in Illinois volunteer their time in assisting the center.

Those residents of downtown Chicago who may wish to assist Flintcreek have an opportunity to assist. Each year thousands of birds strike Chicago skyscrapers when migrating through the city. The injured birds fall to the sidewalks and streets below where there is a good chance they will be run over by vehicles, tread upon by humans, or die a slow death from their injuries.

Flint Creek is establishing rescue teams that patrol Chicago Streets during migration times. The work of the rescue teams is important because timely rescue and treatment of the injured birds means that about 90% will survive their ordeal.

*********************************

http://www.flintcreekwildlife.org/


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