I promise this is the last column about high rises here for a while. As an avid bird watcher, I know what a danger skyscrapers are to our avian friends due to reflections and lights at night. Most folks don’t realize that Utah is in multiple migratory bird flyways, including the Pacific and Central Flyways, which are crucial to so many species of birds that fly to and from our state each spring and fall.

Birds stop in Utah to rest up and refuel on their journeys north to Canada and south to Mexico, Central and South America each year, many stopping in and around such water sources as Gunnison reservoir, Utah Lake, the freshwater arm of the Great Salt Lake and Bear Lake. There are tens of thousands of them that pass through our state like avocets, stilts, curlews, phalaropes, sandpipers but also finches, waxwings, sparrows, juncos, hummingbirds, crows, raptors, etc. Sadly, it is estimated that up to a billion birds die every year from them flying into buildings and skyscrapers at full speed of 20-30 MPH because they see a reflection of trees or greenery that looks safe, or reflections of clouds that appear harmless in the day or are attracted by light.  In 2023 a Eurasian Eagle Owl escaped from the Central Park Zoo and became the darling of New Yorkers who looked to the skies to see ‘Flaco’ land on window sills, rooflines and decks around the city.  For a year he was dubbed the ‘Manhattan Mascot’ by his fans until he crashed earlier this year into a glass-wrapped building and died.

Luckily there are two international trends that are helping to save our bird friends, but I’m not sure any of these good intentions and changes to building materials are being pushed for here in Utah. Citizens in other areas around the world have gotten some cities to recognize this threat to birdlife and have gotten cities like Chicago. Over 1000 birds died in one night in Chicago, flying into the McCormick Center that had been all lit up.   We can help by turning off building lights at night, as that’s when most birds migrate. Developers and owners of buildings downtown love to light up their structures at night and some even add color themes-all of which change bird behavior and cause bird deaths. In Dallas, Houston and Forth Worth they have turned off more than half of the building lights downtown each night, saving thousands of birds from a violent crashing death and saving electricity.  Also, there’s a new glass material for high rises being used around the world that has patterns in it that you can’t see from the street, but the birds do and thus they avoid flying into the buildings that have this kind of glass.  It’s about time our major cities in our state start reviewing codes and permits for high rise construction and advocate for our birdlife here.