‘There would be several strikes a day’: Lake County initiates pilot project to deter birds from flying into glass

The sickening thumps of birds hitting glass have dropped dramatically in recent weeks as part of a pilot program rolls out as both a plus for the environment and those who work at Lake County’s Central Permit Facility.

“It definitely has helped,” says Monica Bofani, environmental health manager and part of the bird monitoring program documenting the number of birds that crash into the glass-walled building at Lake County’s government campus.

Since vinyl dot patterns were installed about two weeks ago to 1,300 square feet of east-side windows, the cringe-inducing sounds have lessened considerably in that part of the building.

“There may have been one (strike) but not what we heard in the past — there would be several strikes a day,” Bofani said.

The observations were made Friday as officials publicly introduced the enhancements as a pilot program to reduce bird strikes at the Central Permit Facility, the first county building to be retrofitted for that purpose.

Dots affixed to windows and cords installed from the roof to the ground on a southern glass wall are part of a pilot program and a broader effort to reduce what is described as an invisible threat that kills as many as 1 billion birds in the U.S. every year.

Hanging paracord was chosen because research has shown birds will not fly through spaces less than two inches high or four inches wide, according to county officials.

Birds don’t see glass the way we do and don’t treat it as a barrier to avoid, officials said. The materials are intended to break up the reflection so birds don’t see it as a clear path and avoid it. The measures were installed by county maintenance crews at a cost of less than $15,000.

“The improvements we see here at the Central Permit Facility are only one example of the numerous changes coming to county buildings,” said county board member Paul Frank of Highland Park.

Frank has championed measures to reduce bird strikes. Those include changes in the county’s building code for new and renovated nonresidential buildings in unincorporated areas and a county policy requiring bird-friendly elements for newly built government facilities, including the Regional Operations Center under construction to the west on the government campus.

During the most recent fall bird migration in September and October a group of staff members walked the perimeter of the Central Permit Facility each weekday morning checking for dead birds, where the strike occurred and the type of bird. That was how the areas of the building to begin the pilot program were identified, said Taylor Gendel, senior planner/sustainability.

The Lake County Forest Preserve District’s environmental education facility in Riverwoods and the College of Lake County’s new building in downtown Waukegan are others incorporating bird-friendly glass.

The Lake County Board in May approved symbolic special recognition for World Migratory Bird Day but also advanced the bird protections by approving a new building design policy for new or renovated county-owned buildings
Courtesy of Lake County

A pending project will modify the entrance to the county administrative building in downtown Waukegan near Lake Michigan as glass is treated with a bird-friendly solution. Incorporating bird-friendly design is affordable and achievable, officials said.

Lake County is on a major bird migratory route with millions of birds passing through each year.

“It’s really a common problem to have bird strikes on buildings like this with lots of glass, but fortunately the solution is easy,” said county board Chair Sandy Hart.

Considered a test, the results will be monitored and measured against past data.

“This is a retrofit. We wanted to demonstrate we could do it on an existing building,” said Eric Waggoner, Lake County’s director of planning, building and development.