BirdSafe Portland

UPCOMING EVENT

Portland's "Resource Guide for Bird-friendly Building Design" is now in draft, and we are holding a forum at KEEN to kick off the discussion about this exciting new resource!

"Portland Resource Guide for Bird-Friendly Building Design" Forum
Thursday, June 14, 2012 from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
KEEN 926 NW 13th Avenue Portland, Oregon

Hors d’ oeuvres, beer and wine will be served

Portland has been a recognized leader in the integration of built and natural environments, and as a result we have a robust and highly-valued urban wildlife population. But built landscapes can pose unique hazards for the 209 species of birds found in Portland, and researchers now estimate that up to one billion birds die as a result of window collisions in the US every year. Architects and designers are increasingly engaged in the important work of adapting our design thinking to help solve contemporary environmental challenges, and have been successful at identifying synergies between bird-safety and other design objectives. Bird-friendly Building Guidelines have already been developed in NYC, Toronto, Chicago, Minnesota and San Francisco to guide architects and developers in the incorporation of innovative bird-friendly elements into their design approaches. Come learn about Portland’s new Resource Guide and learn how to integrate bird-friendly design with other design goals.

Bird Safe Portland

Building Reflection - Jeri Blocker

Portland is situated along the Pacific Flyway, a broad migration front that brings 209 species of both migrant and resident birds into our airspace. Though many of them are likely to stick to the forested uplands that flank the Willamette Valley, others are drawn into our urban landscape where they face an insidious hazard that is everywhere in the built environment: window glass.

It is estimated that up to a billion birds die annually as a result of window strikes in the US alone, a mortality rate second only to habitat destruction. Here in Portland, our Wildlife Care Center brings in 200 to 300 window strike-related cases each year, or roughly 10% of the total case load. In order to get a better sense of the magnitude of this problem, Bird Safe Portland Citizen Science surveys started in September of 2009, with an Oregon Zoo Future for Wildlife grant. To date, we have logged nearly 20 different species of native birds from our surveyed buildings, still only a shadow of the nearly twice as many species that come into the Care Center after hitting a window.

: Mourning Dove window strike - Jeanne Donaldson

In 2011, we received a $10,000 To ge ther Green grant from Toyota and National Audubon Society to continue our surveys and to launch a LIGHTS OUT PORTLAND program. (Read the Warbler article) LO Portland is an effort to engage buildings in voluntarily turning off of unnecessary overnight lighting during spring and fall migration season. But buildings are not the only culprits in the window strike conundrum: residences comprise the bulk of windows across the landscape in urban, suburban, and rural settings. Find out what you can do to reduce strikes at your house.

BirdSafe Portland programming is an effort to make good on Portland’s 2003 Treaty with USFWS to protect our native bird species by:

• Lobbying for adaptation and adoption of Bird-Friendly Building Guidelines (already in place in Toronto, NYC, Chicago, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc.) for bird-friendly windows and site-design

• Lobbying for adoption of a Model Light Ordinance in Portland for responsible lighting design (developed by International Dark Sky Association and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, currently in draft)

• Incorporating Bird-friendly criteria in the BHCP

PARTICIPATING BUILDINGS Ardea, Atwater, Meriwether, Riva, OHSU, John Ross, the Fox Tower, Good Samaritan Hospital, Indigo 12W, Koin, the Ladd, the Eliot, Wells Fargo, USBancorps Tower, Metro, USFWS, the State of Oregon Building, and 1201 Lloyd/Integra.

Frequently Asked Questions

For more information on BirdSafe, see our BSP brochure or contact Mary Coolidge at mcoolidge@audubonportland.org or 503.292.6855

Sign a petition in support of bird-friendly building design for federal buildings

Video: On the Streets, Tracking a Major Killer of Birds

Toronto Birds and Buildings Video

Bird and Buildings Forum