Court backs Madison bird-safe window ordinance and other progress reducing bird-window collisions

Untreated windows, weather conditions and a massive bird migration led to thousands of birds dying in Chicago on Oct. 5 after colliding with windows. Photo: Field Museum of Chicago

Nearly 1,000 birds died colliding with windows in a single day at a single building in Chicago in October, shocking bird-lovers worldwide.

While the death toll at McCormick Place convention center Oct. 5 garnered global headlines, good news for birds was quietly unfolding in a Wisconsin court. Madison’s bird-safe glass ordinance was upheld in a ruling from the state appeals court.

The ordinance was adopted in 2020 and requires bird-safe glass treatment on new construction and refurbishment projects over 10,000 square feet with large amounts of glass, on skyways and glass railings.

It became the first bird-friendly policy in the United States to face a legal challenge when a coalition of trade groups sued the city in 2021 over the requirements. Madison Audubon, now called Badgerland Bird Alliance, and American Bird Conservancy, helped develop the ordinance and joined with the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology to file court briefs supporting the city.

Matt Reetz, Badgerland Bird Alliance executive director, said the court ruling “is a big win not just for birds, but for all of us. The fate of birds is tied with our own. What's good for birds is good for Wisconsinites."

Jennifer Lazewski, WSO executive director, shared the good news with members. “We’re hopeful that this decision will pave the way for other municipalities across Wisconsin to adopt bird-safe glass ordinances of their own,” she said.

Importantly, during the court challenges, the bird-friendly glass requirements remained in effect. New apartment buildings and prominent commercial buildings across Madison are rising and opening with bird-friendly glass.

Madison’s ordinance is featured in Yale University and American Bird Conservancy’s recent report, Building Safer Cities for Birds: How Cities are Leading the Way on Bird-Friendly Building Policies, starting on page 40.

Read more about Madison’s bird-safe glass requirements and the recent court decision on Badgerland Bird Alliance’s website.

Take action to prevent a repeat in Chicago

Sign a petition to require keeping lights off or shades down during migration at McCormick Place.

Call or write the management at McCormick Place and support federal legislation on bird-safe glass.

Whole Foods Market will soon move to its new building in Madison featuring bird-safe glass. Madison is the first city in Wisconsin to have such an ordinance and it is the first ordinance to be challenged in court and, on Oct. 5, upheld. Photo Lisa Gaumnitz

A window into more good news about preventing bird-window collisions

More progress is being made on reducing bird-window collisions in Wisconsin. Here are some recent wins for birds:

• Tens of thousands of Wisconsinites learned about bird-window collisions and home window solutions through the Stop the Fallout campaign organized by SOS Save Our Songbirds. The campaign included a TV public service announcement and workshops, displays and webinars provided by SOS and partners including Badgerland Bird Alliance, the Aldo Leopold and Winnebago Audubon Societies, Milwaukee Zoological Society, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Olbrich Botanical Garden, the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, and Rock Lake Improvement Association.

• More than 250 Wisconsin homeowners received a free box of Feather Friendly window markers from SOS Save Our Songbirds in August and September, before fall migration, to apply to their most dangerous window for birds.

• Owners of existing Madison area buildings voluntarily fixed problems windows and skyways this summer, among them American Family Insurance’s headquarters and Holy Wisdom Monastery. Badgerland Bird Alliance Bird Collision Corps helped work with them to identify windows to treat and volunteers are monitoring results this fall.

• UW-Madison opened the $113.2 million, 29,000-square foot Bakke Recreation & Wellbeing Center with bird-friendly glass, continuing its leadership in retrofitting buildings and using bird-friendly glass in new construction.

• Staff and Zoo Pride volunteers for the Milwaukee County Zoo and Zoological Society of Milwaukee retrofitted scores of windows with dot decals and wind curtains to prevent birds from colliding with windows. 

Bird-safe glass now greets visitors to the Milwaukee Zoo's Education building entrance. Zoo Pride volunteers worked over the summer to install patterned dot decals on this and other buildings to prevent bird collisions and will continue to maintain and add more treatments next year. Photo: Toby Seegert