Yonge Street office buildings lure hundreds of birds to an early demise
The folks at real estate giant Cadillac Fairview chose “Close to Perfection” as a tagline for the Yonge Corporate Centre, probably because “Where Birds Go to Die” isn’t quite as catchy. Apparently, over 800 migrating birds have met their untimely deaths by flying head-on into the twinkling glass at the three north Toronto office towers, and now the company is facing three charges under federal and provincial acts that protect endangered species and prevent cruelty to animals. The trial should take 10 days—more than enough time to rent some ladders, buy some of those hawk silhouettes and stick ’em on the windows. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
It’s actually a bit more than hawk stickers.
The glazing the building chose basically acts as a mirror of the buildings surroundings. Depending on angle, it can appear as either blue sky, or reflected trees, or ground.
Unless the appropriate window treatments are applied, birds will continue to fly headlong into the glass. The injuries they sustain are pretty horrific – from broken necks (the lucky ones) to broken wings and legs, split or cracked off beaks, broken eye sockets or internal bleeding.
The visual markers must be applied no more than 30cm apart – usually done with blocking dots films.