MEDIA ADVISORY / INVITATION

Window strike vic/ms collected in downtown O3awa on Oct. 11, 2014.

300 window-killed birds make striking display

at Canadian Museum of Nature
Ottawa May 19, 2015 FLAP Canadas Ottawa Wing will turn more than 300 dead birds into a
colourful, eye-opening display at the Canadian Museum of NaturesScience by Nightevent
thisThursday, May 21, from 5 to 10 p.m. The FLAP birds will go on displaystarting at 6 p.m.in
the glass tower on the second floor. Volunteers will be on hand starting at 5 p.m. to share
information and answer questions about the phenomenon of bird-building collisions, whichkill an
estimated one billion migratory birds per yearin North America.
The specimens are among the estimated tens of thousands of birds that died by colliding with
windows and other glass structures in Ottawa last year. Volunteers collected the birds during daily
patrols of local buildings during spring and fall migration. In all, they documented more than 570
collisions in 2014, a number that also includes about 150 birds that survived their collisions, and
others that were scavenged or not collected for other reasons. FLAP estimates that they are able
to document far fewer than one percent of actual avian collisions in Ottawa.
The dead bird display is a local version of an annual public awareness campaign organized by
theFatal Light Awareness Program(FLAP) Canada. This charitable organization, founded in
Toronto in 1993, works to safeguard migratory birds in the urban environment through education,
policy development, research, rescue, and rehabilitation. This will be the first such exhibition for
FLAPs Ottawa Wing, which launched last year with the support of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists
Club.
Instead of seeing glass as a solid surface like we do, birds are tricked by reflected trees, sun and
sky, or by plants on the other side of the glass, and they try to fly through, says Anouk
Hoedeman, FLAPs Ottawa Coordinator.Most of the birds we find die on impact of head trauma,
and others die later of their injuries or get eaten by predators while theyre stunned and helpless.
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Awareness of this leading threat to bird populations is increasing in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, but
we have a long way to go here to catch up with other cities like Toronto, New York, San Francisco
and Vancouver, which are among the growing number of jurisdictions to introduce bird-safe
building guidelines. There are many collision-deterrence products and strategies available for both
commercial and residential buildings were just not seeing eective measures being applied
locally.
Since Ottawa volunteers began patrolling for injured and dead birds in April 2014, they have
documented 74 species killed by collisions, including two Species at Risk Wood Thrush and
Canada Warbler. Others range from the tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird to a Barred Owl.
Because the birds are frozen, FLAP volunteers will begin laying them out at 6 p.m. and pack them
up starting at 9 p.m. Following the display, the specimens will be donated to museums and other
institutions for research and educational purposes.
- 30 For more information:
Anouk Hoedeman
Coordinator, Ottawa Wing
Coordinatrice, Rgion d'Ottawa
FLAP Canada
ottawa@flap.org
613-216-8999
facebook.com/FLAP-Ottawa
twitter.com/FLAP_Ott

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