Carleton University Bird-Window Collision Monitoring
Photo of Carleton University M.Sc. student Stasha Lysyk and field assistant Sebi Parajuli monitoring one of the most dangerous buildings for bird window collisions on Carleton University campus in Ottawa.
Pilot research and data collection on Bird-Window Collisions
Pilot Monitoring Carleton University
A bird-window collision monitoring survey was conducted at Carleton University to investigate the occurrences of collisions on campus. The team consisted of Sebi Parajuli, Stasha Lysyk, and was supervised by Dr. Rachel Buxton. Acting as both an undergraduate directed studies project and a pilot study for Stasha’s MSc Thesis, this has been a great beginning to systematically surveying bird-window collisions in Ottawa, and compliments other collision studies at uOttawa. Over the course of the six-week monitoring study, seventeen incidents of collisions were recorded across 6 campus buildings, highlighting the danger these buildings can pose to migratory birds. Stasha’s MSc thesis will be evaluating the efficacy of window treatments to reduce bird-window collisions across Ottawa and is supervised by Dr. Rachel Buxton and Dr. Barbara Frei. Her project is in collaboration with Safe Wings Ottawa and Environment and Climate Change Canada to support ways to make urban spaces safer for birds.
(Photos taken by Stasha Lysik, Sebi Parajuli, and Rachel Buxton)
Examples of dangerous glass facades on campus buildings and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird which was the first bird found killed due to window-collisions during the fall monitoring of 2023 on Carleton University campus.
Click on the button above to learn more about the dangers of window-collisions for birds from Safe Wings Ottawa