PROVO — Welcome to BYU, where we have tall buildings and birds falling from the sky. The question is — are the two related?
The answer? Yes.
One bird after another strike buildings that line our horizon. For those who have experienced this, you might feel like you’re in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
“I found the bird dead on the ground right [outside the Brimhall],” said Professor Ed Carter, head of the Communications Department, resident of the Brimhall building, and first-hand witness to the bird strikes on campus; and he’s experienced more than his fair share of bird strikes. “Over a two-day span, there were like 20 birds that hit my window,” Carter said.
And 20 is a low number; over a billion birds die every year from hitting windows and other structures. Reflections on windows and glass trick the birds. Birds hit windows, cars, and even planes.
So, what can we do to help? Turn out your lights at night, mark your windows, and support requirements to build our shiny towers with birds in mind.
