Film Installed To Prevent Bird Collisions At Sawnee Mountain Park

CUMMING, GA — Visitors to Sawnee Mountain Park will notice some new window treatments on the Community Building windows, including images of Georgia birds and wildlife and tiny dots adorning the glass. The purpose of the treatments is to prevent birds from flying into the windows, an all too common problem. The project is thanks to a partnership between Forsyth County Park and Atlanta Audubon, with a grant from the Disney Conservation Fund.

A recent study by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology ranked Atlanta fourth during fall migration and ninth during spring migration for the potential for bird-building collisions due high numbers of birds being exposed to nocturnal lighting.

The treatments are a special CollidEscape film that reduces the transparency of the glass and breaks up reflection, preventing bird-window strikes. Each spring and fall, millions of birds migrate between wintering grounds in Central and South America, the southern U.S., or the Caribbean to breeding grounds in North America. Using the sun, stars and earth’s magnetism as a guide, birds migrate primarily at night to avoid predators and take advantage of the cooler temperatures. Sadly, many never arrive at their destination due to a man-made problem —building collisions. Blinded by night-time lights or confused by day-time reflections of trees and grass in shiny windows, many birds become disoriented and fly into the buildings, ending their journeys and their lives prematurely.

“Since 2015, Atlanta Audubon has been studying bird-building collisions in the metro area through our Project Safe Flight Atlanta Program,” Adam Betuel, director of conservation for Atlanta Audubon, said. “Since the program began, we have collected more than 1,300 birds of over 100 different species that have perished due to building collisions.”

The CollideEscape film is applied to a building’s windows and breaks up the reflection, allowing birds to avoid a collision, saving them. Nearly 2,000 square feet of CollidEscape material will be used to cover the windows on the Community Building.

“We have been working with a number of parks and nature centers, like Forsyth County, to treat problematic buildings to protect birds,” Betuel said. “We also hope to educate the people who pass through these buildings about the problem of bird-building collisions and show them that there are many easy solutions to this problem.”

In 2018, the Atlanta Audubon Society was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) as part of the Fund’s focus on reversing the decline of threatened wildlife around the world. The conservation grant recognizes Atlanta Audubon’s efforts to reduce bird-building collisions through Project Safe Flight Atlanta, a program to monitor birds and collects data on deaths by collisions, and its companion program, Lights Out Atlanta, to encourage residential and commercial buildings to reduce nighttime lighting to prevent bird deaths.

Atlanta Audubon is working with the Forsyth County to install CollidEscape on the park’s Community Building with funding received from the DCF. Sawnee Mountain Park was chosen as a demonstration building because they were experiencing bird collisions and the park has high visitation presenting a unique opportunity to educate the public on steps they can take to reduce bird-window collisions at home.

“This effort showcases bird conservation practices. Our visitors can see CollideEscape in practice and see how they can help birds in their homes as well,” said Joseph Daugherty, natural resources management supervisor for Forsyth County Parks