Bird-friendly architecture to prevent birds from crashing into buildings

Il Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, a gigantic mirrored skyscraper on the west side of Manhattan, was known as "the bird graveyard," as birds regularly crashed into its highly reflective dark glass walls. The building was later renovated according to architectural standards. bird-friendly, and the massacre stopped. In practice, they were over 6.000 bird-friendly glass panels, less reflective compared to the original one, with pattern of small ceramic dots (frit dots) printed on the glass. The dots interrupt the reflections and make the glass appear as an obstacle to birds, and this system makes the glass visible to the birds, but almost invisible to the people insideThe center has also been equipped with a large green roof, which creates habitats for insects and birds but without turning the building into an “ecological trap”.

These interventions are very widespread in the United States, where there is a real legislation that imposes, in some areas, the architecture bird-friendly, which It works by making the glass of skyscrapers visible to birds, reducing reflections and night lighting, and integrating architectural elements that break up the transparent surfaces.

In addition to the United States, architectural regulations bird-friendly are planned in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Japan and Singapore.

Some studies (Audubon Society, Smithsonian, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) estimate that:capproximately 365–988 million birds per year die in the United States and Canada crashing into buildings. Of these, over 50 million die in New York City alone every year, due to the density of tall buildings and reflective glass.