- Almost 1,000 dead birds rained down on Chicago Thursday night after colliding with an exhibit hall.
- Activists are blaming the building for leaving its lights on and attracting the flock of birds.
- Building officials are now being urged to take measures to reduce collision risk.
Anyone passing by the McCormick Place Lakeside Center in Chicago, Illinois, in the early morning hours on Thursday likely got quite the gruesome shock.
That’s because nearly 1,000 dead birds fell from the sky as they collided with the windows of the exhibit hall on October 5.
Christine Sheppard, director of the American Bird Conservatory’s glass collisions program, described the news as her worst nightmare.
Now, activists like Sheppard are urging McCormick Place to take action and protect migrating birds.
Bird collisions are not uncommon in Chicago, but an event of this magnitude is rare, according to Annette Prince, director of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors.
Prince explained that the weather conditions and the fall migration season contributed to a large number of birds passing through the region.
However, the main cause of the collision was the lights inside the building, as birds were drawn towards them.
Cynthia McCafferty, a spokesperson for McCormick Place, stated that the lights are turned on when people are present and turned off when the building is empty.
Despite concerns about bird collisions, McCormick Place has not implemented anti-collision window treatments or turned off the lights at night.
Sheppard believes that new buildings should have anti-collision windows and all structures should be mindful of their lighting at night to prevent such events.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
