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Press Releases
August
24, 2006
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Michelle Pintar
Phone: (414) 431-6104
E-mail: mpintar@wihumane.org
YOU
Can Save Wild Birds!
MILWAUKEE --
It is estimated that between 100 million and one
billion birds die each year as a result of window
collisions in North America. These numbers are not
only staggering but preventable. The Wisconsin Humane
Society has launched a new program called WIngs
(Wisconsin Night Guardians for Songbirds) with the
goal of getting people throughout Wisconsin to help
save precious wild birds from colliding into windows.
During the daytime,
birds collide with windows because the landscape
is reflected in the glass and birds can't recognize
this as a “false” landscape, and they try to fly
into it. Birds also collide with windows because
they can see in one window and out another, therefore
believing the space is open and attempt to fly through
the perceived “tunnel.” At night, many migrating
songbirds die when they collide with brightly-lit
tall buildings.
Wisconsinites
can help prevent bird/window collisions by implementing
the following in their own homes and businesses:
· Apply
static-cling window appliques to the outside of
“problem” windows.
· Hang
fluttering ribbons or CDs on a string in front of
the window.
· Install
anti-reflective window film to the outside of the
window.
· Research
has shown that backyard window collisions are reduced
when you either place your feeders more than 30
feet away from your windows, or three feet or less
from your windows. With feeders 30 or more
feet away, birds coming and going from the feeders
are less likely to strike windows, and with the
feeders within three feet of the window, birds don't
get up enough speed leaving the feeder to injure
themselves on the window.
· Lower
window awnings to reduce or eliminate reflections
on the outside of the window.
· Close
draperies or blinds to prevent birds from seeing
all the way through a building when windows "line
up," creating a tunnel effect.
· To
learn more about WIngs, check out http://www.wihumane.org/wildlife/wings/default.aspx.
For more information
about the Wisconsin Humane Society, call
(414) ANIMALS or visit www.wihumane.org.
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