Bird Conservation

Urbanization fundamentally changes ecosystem function and structure and has profound effects on wildlife populations. Birds that reside in urban settings face numerous human-related threats to survival, including mortality from bird-window collisions .

Window glass is an invisible barrier to birds, and collisions occur as birds attempt to fly through what appear to be images of open space and vegetation.

Understanding the nature of bird-window collisions is important because urbanization is accelerating faster than human population growth, and knowledge of how the urban environment affects bird survival is needed for conservation and management.

Research in the news:

• Birds at greater risk of hitting windows in rural areas | 8 August 2017 | The Wildlife Society | http://wildlife.org/birds-at-greater-risk-of-hitting-windows-in-rural-areas/

• An unappreciated threat to birds: window collisions in rural areas | 30 August 2017 | Anthropocene, a publication of FutureEarth, research for global sustainability | http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/08/bird-window-collisions-rural-areas/

• Proposed Federal Law Could Save Countless Birds From Death by Glass | 13 October 2017 | National Audubon Society, online news feature / http://www.audubon.org/news/proposed-federal-law-could-save-countless-birds-death-glass

Current Collaborations

Bradley Cosentino (Hobart and William Smith Colleges), Jared Elmore (Oklahoma State University) and Scott Loss (Oklahoma State University) | Guild and life history traits of birds affected by building collisions.

Publications (*undergraduate co-authors)

Elmore, J.A., Hager, S.B., Cosentino, B.J., et. al. 2020. Correlates of bird collisions with buildings across three North American countries. Conservation Biology, 10.1111/cobi.13569.

Hager, S. B. and B. J. Cosentino. In Press. The Bird-window Collisions Project, a large-scale collaborative project sponsored by the Ecological Research as Education Network; BioBox for Chapter 30. IN: Ornithology: Foundation, Critique, and Application, Editors: Michael L. Morrison, Amanda D. Rodewald, Gary Voelker, Jonathan F. Prather, and Melanie R. Colón. Johns Hopkins University Press.

A. E. Matthews, P. B. Klimov, H. C. Proctor, A. P. G. Dowling, L. Diener, S. B. Hager, et al. 2018. Cophylogenetic assessment of New World warblers (Parulidae) and their symbiotic feather mites (Proctophyllodidae). Journal of Avian Biology, 49(3), pp.jav-01580. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.01580.

Hager, S. B., B. J. Cosentino, et al. 2017. Continent-wide analysis of how urbanization affects bird-window collision mortality in North America. Biological Conservation, 212PA, pp. 209-215.

Hager, S. B. and B. J. Cosentino. 2014. Surveying for bird carcasses resulting from window collisions: a standardized protocol. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e406v1 http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.406v1.

Hager, S. B. and M. E. Craig*. 2014. Bird-window collisions in the summer breeding season. PeerJ 2:e460 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.460.

Hager, S. B., B. J. Cosentino, K. J. McKay, et al. 2013. Window area and development drive spatial variation in bird-window collisions in an urban landscape. PLoS ONE 8(1): e53371. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053371.

Hager, S. B., B. J. Cosentino, and K. J. McKay. 2012. Scavenging affects persistence of avian carcasses resulting from window collisions in an urban landscape. Journal of Field Ornithology. 83(2): 203-211.

Hager, S. B. 2012. The diversity of behavior. Nature Education Knowledge 1(10):66. Available from: http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-diversity-of-behavior-15129167.

Hager, S. B. 2009. Human-related threats to urban raptors. Journal of Raptor Research. 43(3): 210-226.

Hager, S. B., H. Trudell*, K. J. McKay, S. M. Crandall, and L. Mayer*. 2008. Bird density and mortality at windows. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 120(3): 550-564.