City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:
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News Release: May 8, 2015
Torontonians encouraged to help protect migrating birds
Tens of millions of birds make their way over and through
Toronto on their annual spring migration in April and May. It is estimated that
more than a million of them end up injured or dead from collisions with windows
in the Toronto area.
Many of the birds come from Central and South America and
travel as far north as Canada's boreal forest, which in Ontario extends north
from Lake Superior, mostly north of the 50th parallel. They prefer to fly
during the night, using natural light from the moon and stars to assist them
with navigation.
Light pollution from urban areas obscures the natural
light and draws them into the urban environments. As the birds try to make
their way out of the city, they can be distracted by, and collide with,
windows. Birds cannot distinguish between real and reflected habitat.
Residents can help minimize the risk of injury or death
to migratory birds by taking steps such as the following:
• Turn off unnecessary lights at home and at work --
especially when leaving work at the end of the day.
• Bird feeders that are close to a window should be set
up within half a metre of the glass so birds leaving the feeder do not attain
enough speed to injure themselves should they hit the glass.
• Residents of apartment or condominium buildings can
speak with their property manager about taking measures such as using building
lights that turn off automatically and installing a special film on windows to
reduce reflection.
Urban planners, policy makers, developers/builders,
homeowners, tenants and businesses, including business improvement area
organizations, can all play a part in reducing the number of bird fatalities.
More information is available on the Toronto Green Standard website at http://bit.ly/1JtcWUf.
Downtown, where many of the collisions with glass occur,
the security desk at Metro Hall, 55 John St., is a designated holding station
for the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP). FLAP volunteers transport the
injured birds to the Toronto Wildlife Centre.
FLAP works to safeguard migratory birds in the urban
environment through education, research, rescue and rehabilitation, with the
vision of creating a 24-hour collision-free urban environment for migratory
birds. More information about FLAP is available at http://www.flap.org/.
Should a member of the public see a bird collide with a
window and fall, or find an injured bird on the ground, the bird should be
gently placed in an unwaxed paper bag or cardboard box, temporarily kept in a quiet,
safe location and not given water or food.
The City of Toronto is currently working on two documents
– Best Practices for Bird-Friendly Glass and Best Practices for Effective
Lighting – that are expected to be published in advance of this year's fall
migration.
Toronto's Bird-Friendly Guidelines are available at http://bit.ly/1ca2BBv.
This news release is also available on the City's
website: http://bit.ly/1dSKxwT
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in
North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It
is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently
ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host
City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on
non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and
visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca,
call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.
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