About Bird Collisions

Never had a bird hit your window? It's possible that you may be one of the lucky few, but chances are, birds have hit the glass on your house and you just don't know it. They may have flown away injured to die elsewhere, or been eaten by a cat, raccoon, fox, or dog before you found them. Your house may kill a dozen or more birds each year without you knowing. This may not seem like a lot, but it adds up … to as many as a billion birds per year or more throughout the United States. Much of this mortality takes place during spring and fall when songbirds are migrating. Read more about bird collisions with glass.

Birds hit your windows because they just can't see glass. They try to fly to reflected sky or trees, or they see through windows on opposite sides of your house and try to fly 'through the hole' . The impact of the collision is enough to kill a songbird, severely injure it, or stun it to leave it on the ground vulnerable to predators.

But now there is a solution!

ABC BirdTape was designed and tested by bird experts at American Bird Conservancy, the leading bird conservation organization in the U.S., to alert birds to the presence of glass while allowing you to see out the window from inside.

By applying ABC BirdTape in any of the recommended patterns , birds will see your windows and not try to fly through the gaps in between.

In a scientific evaluation of the ¾” tape, 75% of migratory birds tested avoided horizontal stripes spaced 2” apart

Bird Collision Facts

  • Glass kills between 500,000,000 and 1,000,000,000 birds each year – the majority on home windows
  • Birds can't see glass and don't understand the architectural cues, such as window frames, mullions, and handles, that help people detect it
  • Unlike some sources of bird mortality that predominantly kill weaker individuals, there is no distinction among victims of glass. Because glass is equally dangerous for strong, healthy, breeding adults, it can have a particularly serious impact on populations.
  • Even small windows can be dangerous to birds that are accustomed to flying through small gaps between trees and shrubs.
  • One or two decals on a small window may help reduce some collisions, but become less effective as window size increases because birds will simply fly around them.
  • Tape is a cost effective way to make windows safe for birds and it is a quick way to treat large areas of glass.
  • Research has shown that birds generally avoid flying through vertical spaces 4" or less, and horizontal spaces 2" or less.

    • This BBC video of an experiment with a captive Goshawk demonstrates perfectly how birds are able to fly through very small spaces, and why it is important to space BirdTape appropriately on windows