The Unknown Victims of Skyscrapers

Ella Klingensmith is a seventh-grader at M.S 839 and received an honorable mention.

One of the thrills of living in a city is walking on the streets listening to the buzz of everyone around you and enjoying the skyline. Now imagine yourself walking when suddenly you see out of the corner of your eye, falling feathers, a broken beak. The remnants of what was once a happy, healthy bird. Now a crime scene. You look up at the glass giant that towers over you, the culprit of the murder.

This bird and the hundreds of thousands of others that have experienced this same fate did not deserve this fatal attack. As humans, we are at fault. We have constructed these glass buildings that have caused this harm, so it is also our responsibility to fix the problem. Tall buildings should be required to take measures to prevent harm to birds because the light pollution is attracting the birds and throwing off their natural migration, resulting in collision and death. Humans have the power, responsibility, and capability to design buildings and change our behaviors, specifically in the birds’ favor.

While some might be attracted to the sleek and modern look of the glass buildings that line many cityscapes, this is the same glass that birds are blind to. Once you light up these buildings at night, now birds are the ones that are attracted to them. In fact, according to Sirena Lao, a researcher at the San Francisco Bird Observatory, "Birds

are driven off course by light pollution. They're often attracted to bright city lights” due to the abundance of tall buildings.

The deadly artificial light shining through our windows illuminates the dark night sky. This is the light that identifies a city from miles away, attracting the eyes of both birds and humans. However, when the migrating birds travel off course to these city lights, there are fatal consequences. According to Sorte and Horton (2021), “Many migratory bird populations have declined over the past 50 years, and it is possible that light pollution from cities is contributing to these losses. Scientists widely agree that light pollution can severely disorient migratory birds and make it hard for them to navigate.”

Some argue that it's not our problem that birds are dying because of our buildings. They might argue that they see so many birds so it doesn't seem to be a problem. It is our problem, we are the people who have created these buildings. There are living birds but also a lot of birds dying because of our buildings. Did you know that in just New York City the number of deaths of birds from colliding into glass buildings is estimated to be as high as 230,000 per year? Also as I have shown the number of migratory birds has gone down. That's crazy, if we don’t start to act differently soon we will see a big change in the future for birds.

It is our job to right the wrongs that we have committed to the world. Not only is it our responsibility (as the original culprits who have created these buildings) to prevent these tragedies from happening to birds, but we have the resources and intellect to transform the architecture to keep birds safe. The Haudenosaunee people created the Thanksgiving Address where they recognize and show gratitude for different parts of our world. The thanksgiving

address states, “We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.” We humans aren't doing much to protect these animals. If we want birds to survive we need to start to make a difference. Mellissa Breyer, the editorial director of Treehugger says, "Lights can be turned off, windows can be treated. Please do something." There are many ways that we can make a difference, some as simple as turning off your lights. Some cities like New York are trying to address this issue. For example, according to the Bird Friendly Building Design & Construction Requirements Guidance document, Local law 15 of 2020 is now requiring “that materials that reduce bird strike fatalities be installed on newly constructed or altered buildings.”

But this is just one city we need to get more places to contribute to the well being of birds. However, the majority of tall buildings across the world still remain lurking in our skies hidden to birds’ eyes. If we don't act, who knows maybe one day there will be no birds at all.