The mass casualty was made headlines by tweets from an Audubon volunteer in New York City that showed the World Trade Center is littered with carcasses of birds. Hundreds of birds migrating from New York City this week were killed after crashing into the city's glass towers. A mass casualty headlined by a tweet from a New York City-based Audubon volunteer that showed the World Trade Center littered with bird carcasses had gone.
Caitlyn Parkins, the group's associate director of conservation and science, said this week's avian death toll was particularly high. But bird attacks on Manhattan skyscrapers are a persistent problem that NYC Audubon has documented for years.
Stormy weather Monday night through Tuesday contributed to the deaths, she said. "We had a big storm and strange weather and a lot of birds. It's the perfect combination that could lead to a bird-window collision," Parkins said.
"It seems likely that the storm may have brought the birds down lower than they should have, or simply disoriented them," Parkins said. "The effect of night light on birds is also quite strong. Especially when it is a cloudy night." Volunteers from NYC Audubon document the death of birds at high-risk locations during spring and fall migration. Melissa Breuer, the volunteer who tweeted about finding nearly 300 birds on the sidewalks around the new World Trade Center towers, said the experience was "overwhelming."
"As soon as I got to the buildings, the birds were on the sidewalks everywhere," Breyer said. "Looking north, covered, south, covered, west, covered, the sidewalks were literally covered with birds." NYC Audubon wants owners of the World Trade Center's towers and other buildings to help reduce the number of bird attacks by dimming lights at night and treating the glass to make birds more visible. "Make it so they can see it and recognize that it's a solid obstacle they can't fly through," Parkins said.
Durst Organization spokesman Jordan Barovitz, co-developer of One World Trade Center, said in an email. "The first 200 feet of One WTC are enclosed in glass fins that are non-reflective. This design was chosen because it greatly reduces bird attacks which are mostly below 200 feet and are often caused by reflective glass.
"We care deeply for wild birds and protect their habitat in five boroughs," said Dara McQuillan, spokesperson for Silverstein Properties. Developer of three other business center skyscrapers. Understanding how artificial night-time lighting is normally While this can attract and distract migratory birds. We are actively encouraging our office tenants to turn off their lights at night and lower their blinds wherever possible. Especially during the migratory season.
This was not the last flight for all the birds that crashed. Some survived. Director Ritamari McMahon said a total of 77 birds were taken to the Wild Bird Fund's rehab facility on the Upper West Side on Tuesday. Most of them are from the business center area.
"We knew this was going to be a big migration. They could tell from the radar," said McMahon, who had earmarked additional staff to look after the expected influx of injured birds. Wild Bird Fund staff members gave the birds food, fluids, and anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce swelling. McMahon said thirty birds were recovered and released in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on Wednesday. "One of our employees took Uber to drop them off in Prospect Park so they wouldn't have to face any more tall buildings on their trip," she said.
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