WEBVTT 00:02.166 --> 00:05.000 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG: Every year in the United States, as many as a billion birds die while migrating. 00:07.100 --> 00:10.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It's not due to climate change or some toxic substance in the air or water. This culprit 00:12.700 --> 00:16.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is hiding in plain sight. The birds are killed when they collide with glass. For 00:18.133 --> 00:21.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the latest in our Saving Species series, we went to see an effort to reduce this carnage 00:21.000 --> 00:26.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in Philadelphia where it turns out, residents love a lot more birds than just the Eagles. 00:27.833 --> 00:28.766 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% STEPHEN MACIEJEWSKI, Volunteer, Bird Safety Philly: And so the birds are 00:28.766 --> 00:30.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% attracted to the brightness. 00:30.966 --> 00:33.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): The sun is barely up over downtown Philadelphia and the guy known 00:33.733 --> 00:38.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% as the Birdman is already at work. Stephen Maciejewski is a fixture here during the 00:41.033 --> 00:44.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% spring and fall migrations, looking for birds not in the skies, but on the sidewalks where 00:46.333 --> 00:49.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they fallen after hitting a window. Some are dead, some are injured, others just stunned. 00:51.500 --> 00:53.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% STEPHEN MACIEJEWSKI: They don't know what glass is. They don't know glass is hard. 00:53.666 --> 00:58.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% They just say reflection or they think they can go in or through. And then they start hitting. 00:59.700 --> 01:01.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JOHN YANG (voice-over): It didn't take long for 01:01.666 --> 01:03.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Maciejewski's eagle's eyes to spot a dead ovenbird, a small songbird. 01:03.900 --> 01:07.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% STEPHEN MACIEJEWSKI: So beautiful. Yes, 01:07.000 --> 01:12.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% there's orange crown, and they have this loud voice singing teacher, teacher, teacher. 01:14.066 --> 01:17.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): The species and other details go into his logbook. The dead bird 01:17.433 --> 01:22.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% goes into a plastic bag to be taken to the lab for study. All too common routine done, 01:24.533 --> 01:29.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% he moves on. Maciejewski is a volunteer for Bird Safe Philly, 01:30.900 --> 01:35.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% a partnership aimed at creating safe spaces for birds. 01:35.266 --> 01:38.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Since 1970, the United States and Canada have seen 01:38.200 --> 01:43.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a decline in bird species of 30 percent. While much of it's due to habitat loss, 01:45.400 --> 01:49.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% glass windows posed the third largest threat. Robin Irizarry is with Audubon Mid-Atlantic. 01:49.500 --> 01:53.366 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% ROBIN IRIZARRY, Audubon Mid-Atlantic: Folks don't recognize just how serious of a threat 01:53.366 --> 01:58.300 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% this is because it's such a passive threat. It's not something that we're actively doing like 01:58.300 --> 02:03.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% engaging in deforestation or, you know, paving over areas of habitat. This is simply by us 02:05.366 --> 02:10.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% existing in the way that we live having windows. It's a threat to birds, and it's killing birds. 02:12.366 --> 02:13.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JASON WECKSTEIN, Academy Of Natural Sciences at Drexel University: Sort of organized 02:13.200 --> 02:14.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% how we classify birds. 02:14.466 --> 02:16.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JOHN YANG (voice-over): So Jason Wettstein, 02:16.600 --> 02:18.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% runs a lab studying birds with the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. 02:18.833 --> 02:21.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JASON WECKSTEIN: And you can see this is filled with specimens with Safe Philadelphia. 02:21.833 --> 02:23.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): It's collection of the birds killed 02:23.233 --> 02:27.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in windows strikes dates back nearly 150 years. 02:27.633 --> 02:29.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JASON WECKSTEIN: If you look here, you know, they're specimens from 1877. 02:29.833 --> 02:31.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% JOHN YANG: Wow. 02:31.900 --> 02:35.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JASON WECKSTEIN: This one from 1906 is actually from the early window kills that 02:35.933 --> 02:40.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% happened here in Philadelphia. So this was on city hall. When City Hall was first lit up, 02:43.066 --> 02:45.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% we actually had windows strikes happening or, you know, there were some window strikes just 02:45.066 --> 02:49.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% from glass alone. That does happen. And certainly glass on its own is a problem 02:49.133 --> 02:54.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% when it's reflective. But you add lights into the mix, and it makes it a lot worse. 02:54.100 --> 02:58.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG (voice-over): Birds make their long migratory journeys mostly at night. And for 02:58.066 --> 03:03.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% reasons still not fully understood, they're drawn to artificial lights. Philadelphia 03:05.133 --> 03:08.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% sits on a migratory superhighway known as the Atlantic Flyway, so it's brightly lit skyline 03:10.066 --> 03:14.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% is ripe for the sort of mass collision that occurred on October 2nd, 2020. 03:16.700 --> 03:19.766 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% STEPHEN MACIEJEWSKI: We had around 450 birds just at this building. And, you know, I take care of 03:22.133 --> 03:26.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% like a number of birds. I process them. And people say there's more down there and more down there. 03:27.900 --> 03:29.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: How many birds did you collect that day? 03:29.066 --> 03:29.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% STEPHEN MACIEJEWSKI: Eight or 900. 03:29.733 --> 03:31.933 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% JOHN YANG: Wow. 03:31.933 --> 03:35.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% STEPHEN MACIEJEWSKI: And we kind of thought that there was probably over 1,500 that were killed. 03:37.366 --> 03:38.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% MARIANNE SCOTT, Building Industry Association of Philadelphia: And that happened essentially 03:38.500 --> 03:40.633 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% my backyard. I live in that area. 03:40.633 --> 03:44.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): That catastrophic event move bird lover Marianne Scott to action. 03:44.533 --> 03:46.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% MARIANNE SCOTT: There is a general misconception that 03:46.366 --> 03:50.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% everyone -- it's the high rises that are the biggest problems. So, yes, 03:50.466 --> 03:55.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the statistics I think is that it's four stories or less where the most fatal collisions occur. 03:57.800 --> 04:00.266 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG (voice-over): As Executive Director of the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia, 04:00.266 --> 04:04.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% she's working to convince the members of that residential real estate trade group 04:04.066 --> 04:09.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% to turn off lights both inside and outside between midnight and 6:00 a.m. during migration seasons. 04:11.133 --> 04:13.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MARIANNE SCOTT: I think by and large people don't know that there's a problem. They're 04:13.800 --> 04:18.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% shocked to hear when I say there might be 300 million birds traveling across the country now. 04:20.866 --> 04:23.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): In fact the night before we went on patrol with Stephen Maciejewski, 04:23.266 --> 04:28.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% an estimated 660 million birds were in the skies over the United States 04:30.200 --> 04:33.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% in the midst of their spring migration north. That makes for a busy morning. 04:35.800 --> 04:39.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% An injured ovenbird is placed in a paper bag for transport to the School of Wildlife 04:39.200 --> 04:44.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Centers Clinic for rehabilitation. Then Maciejewski helps and apparently 04:46.200 --> 04:49.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% stunned birds \struggling to regain its sense of direction and get on its way. 04:51.433 --> 04:55.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Next, an injured yellow throated warbler. And at the entrance of an office building, 04:56.966 --> 05:00.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% a box safeguarding the body of a dead bird left by building 05:00.300 --> 05:02.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% staff who've gotten to know much Maciejewski. 05:02.400 --> 05:04.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% OLIVIA FERMANO, Building staff: I actually have him in my contacts on 05:04.233 --> 05:09.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% my phone because this is sadly regular occurrence. There's been times when 05:10.766 --> 05:13.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% I've been sitting there and they've flown in, you know, to the window. 05:13.100 --> 05:15.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% DON HAAS, BOMA Philadelphia: Really all the building staff whether it's security or janitorial 05:15.900 --> 05:20.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% predominantly, who used to just clean up and move on. Now we're trying to save as many as possible. 05:23.166 --> 05:26.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): Building Manager Don Haas is a key leader in the Building Owners and 05:26.833 --> 05:31.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Managers Association of Philadelphia or BOMA. He's working to get his counterparts on board. 05:33.700 --> 05:36.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DON HAAS: We were controlling all the outside lighting in the crown lighting, 05:36.433 --> 05:41.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% lobby lightings. So we encourage all of our BOMA members to sign on to the Birds 05:43.800 --> 05:47.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Safe Lights Out Philly Program. We had a terrific response. I think we're probably at 60 buildings. 05:49.866 --> 05:53.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG (voice-over): Some cities and states require bird safe design. 05:53.233 --> 05:58.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In Maryland state law says buildings that are at least 50 percent publicly funded 05:58.233 --> 06:03.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% must follow bird safe design practices. On New York City law mandates that all 06:04.900 --> 06:07.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% city owned buildings turn off lights at night during migration season. 06:07.666 --> 06:12.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In Canada, Toronto requires new and existing buildings to take steps to be bird friendly. 06:14.900 --> 06:19.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In West Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania makes being feather friendly 06:19.300 --> 06:24.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% part of its sustainability plan. Many school buildings take part in Lights Out Philly. And in 06:26.466 --> 06:30.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% some like the Singh Center for Nanotechnology, window glasses etched with vertical stripes, 06:32.100 --> 06:35.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a pattern that's been found to reduce collisions. It's the same ideas the dots 06:35.833 --> 06:40.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on the transparent film covering the windows of Water College House one of the campus dorms. 06:42.666 --> 06:44.566 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% ZADE DOHMAN, Student, University of Pennsylvania: I've sort of become 06:44.566 --> 06:46.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the bird expert in my friend group. I received tax where friends will say, 06:46.500 --> 06:49.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I heard this bird at this late hour of night is this normal. 06:49.833 --> 06:51.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JOHN YANG (voice-over): Student eco rep, 06:51.900 --> 06:55.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Zade Dohman, monitors the campus for bird strikes as part of his work study program. 06:55.666 --> 06:59.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ZADE DOHMAN: There have been birds I've picked up right after they were hit. And most of them 06:59.800 --> 07:04.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% were dead. So I can feel the sort of remnants of life leave their body. And it is really hard. And 07:06.966 --> 07:11.666 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% it's not something that gets any easier. To me, it's always struck me as this sort of microcosm 07:11.666 --> 07:16.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of how humans interact with the environment. In general, it's our architecture, it's our 07:18.966 --> 07:22.666 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% human influence on the environment around us that is causing these birds to get hurt and to die. 07:24.133 --> 07:25.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): It's an idea that helps inform the work 07:25.500 --> 07:29.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% of university landscape planner Chloe Cerwinka. 07:29.166 --> 07:31.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% CHLOE CERWINKA, Landscape Planner, University of Pennsylvania: The way 07:31.400 --> 07:34.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I got interested in birds was through trying to find another way to understand whether our 07:36.733 --> 07:41.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% landscapes were functioning because if we're inviting these birds in by creating these 07:42.933 --> 07:46.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% important habitats that they need, then we absolutely have to make sure that it's 07:49.033 --> 07:52.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a safe space for them. We can't invite them in just to let them die in the built environment. 07:56.366 --> 07:59.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): The solutions Penn is employing are just some of the methods found 07:59.633 --> 08:04.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% to be effective. At the Discovery Center in Philadelphia, Robin Irizarry shows us others. 08:06.700 --> 08:11.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ROBIN IRIZARRY: These are Acopian birds saving blinds. These are a simple technique, 08:13.633 --> 08:16.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% a really cost effective technique. And this is just a network of paracord that protects birds 08:16.100 --> 08:20.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% from flying into the glass here. You want to have a distance of about four inches. So when 08:20.300 --> 08:25.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% a bird is flying through there, it's not going to feel comfortable going through that space. 08:25.066 --> 08:28.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% STEPHEN MACIEJEWSKI: I like they call me Birdman. It's an honor. 08:28.733 --> 08:31.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG (voice-over): Back on the streets of Philadelphia, Stephen Maciejewski wraps 08:31.833 --> 08:36.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% up his day. He's collected 13 dead and injured birds. The injured were sent to 08:38.966 --> 08:42.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% rehabilitation. The dead were neatly placed in a freezer at the Academy of Natural Sciences 08:44.866 --> 08:47.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% alongside other birds that have met similar fates, all available to be used for research. 08:50.266 --> 08:52.833 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% STEPHEN MACIEJEWSKI: It's very sad to find these birds. I mean, they're coming up north looking to 08:52.833 --> 08:57.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% raise a family, traveling like thousands of miles from, you know, South America, 08:59.933 --> 09:02.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Central America, the Caribbean to come this far and then to die on the streets of Philadelphia.