On the frontlines of the fight for a bird-friendly NYC

NEW YORK (WABC) — On a chilly October morning, Melissa Breyer arrived at the World Trade Center at 6:30 a.m. She carefully surveyed through the high-rise buildings in the area, searching for birds that have fallen to the ground after colliding with a building.

As a volunteer for Project Safe Flight, a program run by the NYC Bird Alliance to monitor bird collisions across the city, she has been walking this path during the early mornings of every migration season for the past five years. On days when collisions are expected to be high, her routes start as early as 5 a.m.

“I’d like to make sure that I could find as many birds as possible,” said Breyer. “The idea of them dying in vain just makes me sad, and I want them all to be counted in the data (that is) so important.”

Every year, during migration seasons in spring and fall, millions of birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway pass by New York City, where they face a high risk of colliding into buildings due to reflective glass surfaces and lights at night. According to the NYC Bird Alliance, 90,000 to 230,000 birds die each year because of building collisions.

Founded in 1997, Project Safe Flight began as a group of volunteers who monitored building collisions in downtown Manhattan. Today, it has over 200 volunteers patrolling in areas across the five boroughs, collecting information on bird collisions. The birds found alive are sent to rehabilitation at the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side, while those that died are donated to the American Museum of Natural History.

Using the data reported by the volunteers, researchers at the NYC Bird Alliance are able analyze patterns of bird collisions across the city and use their findings to advocate for change. In 2019, the New York City Council pass Local Law 15 of 2020, which requires bird-safe materials to be installed on newly constructed or altered buildings.

While staff members of the NYC Bird Alliance are optimistic about a bird-friendly future in the city, they also acknowledge that there is much more work to be done.