Mid-fall 2015 monitoring update

Autumn is the busiest time of year for BirdSafe Pittsburgh monitors, because during fall migration more birds are moving through than during spring.  Breeding adults are moving back to their wintering grounds along with all of the birds that were born this year.  In fact, many (but definitely not all!) of the birds our monitors find as victims of window strikes are what we call “hatch-year” birds, or birds that were born this summer.  This could be due to a number of factors, including the fact that they have never undertaken such a long flight and are forced to refuel in less than ideal locations.

Our BirdSafe Pittsburgh monitors walk the streets of the downtown area early each morning to look for birds that have struck windows.  Usually when a bird collides with a window it is killed instantly, but sometimes they survive the initial impact and stand stunned on the sidewalk below the window.  Our monitors are able to walk right up to the bird and safely capture it to keep it from being stepped on, run over, or swept up by cleaning crews.  All of the live birds are taken to the Animal Rescue League’s Wildlife Center, where they are given a thorough checkup and released if they are OK.

This fall (as of October 7) monitors have found 43 such live birds out of the 103 found so far.  Only 3 of these birds escaped capture, but the other 40 were taken to the rehab center.  The vast majority of these were released within a day or so of being checked in, and were able to resume their travels south!

Here is a list of birds found in the downtown area so far this season.
Table 1.) Birds found during BirdSafe Pittsburgh monitoring efforts, Sept 1 – Oct 7, 2015. (* denotes that bird was not captured)

Species	Dead Birds	Stunned Birds	Total
Rock Dove	2	3	5
Mourning Dove	1		1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	4		4
Northern Flicker	1	1	2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	3	4	7
Eastern Wood Pewee		1	1
Blue Jay	4		4
Brown Creeper		2	2
House Wren		1	1
Brown Thrasher		1	1
Gray Catbird	2	2	4
Hermit Thrush	1		1
Swainson’s Thrush	1	1	2
Gray-cheeked Thrush		1	1
Catharus Sp. (Thrush)	1		1
European Starling	2		2
Black and White Warbler	2	1	3
Tennessee Warbler	2	4	6
Magnolia Warbler	2	1	3
Black-throated Green Warbler	2		2
Cape May Warbler	1		1
Blackburnian Warbler	3	3	6
Bay-breasted Warbler	1	1	2
Blackpoll Warbler	3		3
Ovenbird	9	8	17
Common Yellowthroat	5	4 (1*)	9
Mourning Warbler	1		1
Connecticut Warbler		1*	1
Hooded Warbler		1	1
American Redstart		1	1
Unknown Warbler	3		3
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1		1
Unknown Sparrow Spp		1*	1
House Sparrow	1		1
Unknown Species	2		2
Grand total	60	43	103

If you would like more information about how you can get involved in helping us learn more about window collisions in the Pittsburgh area visit this page.  You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.