A variety of migrating warblers and other songbirds were the primary casualties at the McCormick Place, located lakeside in Chicago (Chestnut-sided Warbler by Paul Konrad).

Bird window strikes have been reduced by more than 95 percent at the iconic McCormick Place Lakeside Center in Chicago after bird-safe film was installed on the building’s glass windows! It’s a huge success story, and now owners and managers of other buildings in the city are following suit to help protect birds from striking glass windows. With more city planners across America initiating construction standards that include bird-safe window treatments, the story of the McCormick Place will surely be exemplary in improving conditions for migrating birds.

Most songbirds migrate at night, and to some extent they use the stars and moon to navigate, but bright lights emanating from glass structures throw off these navigations, and they can’t perceive the glass. During migration, hundreds of birds have crashed into the McCormick Place’s multi-story glass facade and died. As a result, advocates called for protections to be added to McCormick Place and Chicago’s other glass-covered buildings.

One night during fall migration in early October 2023, nearly 1,000 songbirds died after flying into windows on the lakefront building, which raised local, national, and international attention with myriad calls to address the threat the building posed to birds. The building’s ownership quickly responded by initially closing drapes to conceal any lights and by turning off unnecessary outside lights. They also began seeking a long-term solution, which turned out to be a bird-safe window film product manufactured and installed by Feather Friendly.

In advance of the next fall migration, the Feather Friendly company installed a polka-dot window film on McCormick Place’s 120,000 square feet of glass, and the results were even better than expected. The dots on the window film only cover about 6 to 8 percent of the surface, but it’s enough to signal to birds that the glass is a solid structure. At the same time, the dots don’t obstruct light or the view outside and they can’t be seen from across the room.

The window film is also built to last, and during the 18 years since Feather Friendly has been in business, it’s never had to replace a client’s window treatment. While you can never reduce window strikes 100 percent, to reduce the number of birds impacted by 95 percent is dramatic, especially when you extrapolate the effect over many years, and if other buildings were treated in this manner.

Now, after the 2023 migration disaster, McCormick Place has set an impressive example for how owners and managers in other buildings with glass windows can do their part to protect birds, and since installing the window film at McCormick Place, Feather Friendly has lined up 9 more window treatment projects in Chicago. In fact, this project caught the attention of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Director, Martha Williams, who toured the building last week.

Indeed, McCormick Place is an example that can be repeated by businesses in towns and cities across the nation and around the world to help reduce the impact that glass windows and artificial lights have on birds, especially during fall and spring migrations. Perhaps this is also an opportunity for other businesses to partner with Feather Friendly and similar companies, which can create some new jobs and economic growth.

Birders, conservationists, city planners, and almost everyone would hope that other businesses and property owners will follow this success and build on the example provided by the McCormick Place Lakeside Center in Chicago. You can refer to the original article published last week in the Chicago Sun-Times at Bird strikes plummet at McCormick Place – NBC Chicago

If you are interested in learning more about the Feather Friendly company and the products they provide, you can refer to Feather Friendly – FeatherFriendly You may also be interested in do-it-yourself Feather Friendly residential window collision tape, which is described and available at Feather Friendly Window Collision Tape Single Roll (theaudubonshop.com)