By: Caitlin Kingsmill, News Writer
SFU master’s of biological sciences student Vanessa Hum has been working to make the Burnaby campus more bird-friendly. Over nearly half a year, Hum recorded bird-window collisions and estimated over 2,000 collisions occurred during this period. She found mortalities in 25 of the 41 different bird species on campus.
In an interview with The Peak, Hum discussed her research findings, saying, “The number is really big but I’m not surprised.” She found evidence of bird collisions at eight different buildings at SFU Burnaby.
The Burnaby campus is located “along an important migratory route called the Pacific Flyway,” one of four major bird migration routes in North America. This north-south route is “used by birds twice a year in the fall and in the spring.”
Hum said bird-window collisions are preventable. “The way to do it is by making a window visible to a bird,” she said. The master’s student created an online petition urging SFU to install bird-friendly window solutions to prevent these fatalities, such as Feather Friendly dots — white dots installed on the outside of a window in a dense, grid-like pattern. Hum also asks for “the support of SFU management to implement these vital measures.”
She noted that the black bird silhouettes installed on some Burnaby campus windows are not effective. These silhouettes were installed to prevent bird-window collisions by making the window more visible. However, “most of the silhouettes are on the inside of the windows, so when you look from the outside you can still see the reflection of the trees.” A bird is more likely to collide with a window if the window reflects the surrounding nature.
The black colour of the silhouettes also does not provide a high enough contrast to be noticeable to the birds. Hum said the silhouettes need to cover more of the window’s surface so birds don’t fly into other empty areas of the window.
Hum secured funding and materials for bird-friendly window solutions at SFU and is currently working with the university to install them. Specifically, she has received approval to have Feather Friendly dots installed on the Student Union Building. She is now seeking approval for a mural in convocation mall. “Hopefully it’s going to go through,” she said.
The researcher said she would still like more progress, particularly with new SFU buildings. In 2022, SFU stated that they are committed to reducing bird fatalities on campus and planned to install Feather Friendly dots south of Blusson Hall.
Hum stressed how important it is to use the right technology for these solutions to be effective: “This is a preventable issue that has a solution. It’s really important and it’s a growing field and I do think it looks good on universities to be a bird-friendly place.” Hum encourages anyone interested to sign her petition to signal to SFU that this is an important issue.
For more information on Hum’s research, visit her Instagram @birdsafesfu.
