Students Collaborating with Nonprofit to Reduce Bird Collisions with Buildings

In 2015, before the cleaning crews hit the sidewalks of downtown Atlanta and before scavenger animals arose to snag an easy meal, Adam Betuel would venture into the darkness of the early mornings to look for birds.

Some were still alive, but most of the birds were dead. They were all too easy to find.

“I knew birds hit buildings, but I didn’t know much more about the issue at that time, and I was surprised how easily I just found birds,” Betuel said.

Birds flying into windows aren’t isolated events. Environmentalists estimate between 365 million and one billion birds die each year from colliding with structures in the U.S.