Members of Keep Evanston Beautiful and the North Shore Bird Club flocked to the Evanston Ecology Center on Tuesday night to hear Daniel Klem Jr., an authority on bird and glass collisions, speak.
Klem, a professor of biology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn., has been studying this phenomenon for more than 30 years. He estimates that 100 billion birds are killed every year by striking glass.
The threat to birds is greater than those of pesticides, cats and wind turbines combined, he said.
"At a low estimate, the number of birds killed by collisions with glass every year is like having 33 Exxon Valdez disasters," Klem said.
"Birds simply don't see glass," he explained. "They are deceived by tree reflections on windows, or when they can see through it, they mistakenly think the glass isn't there."
According to Klem, most of the birds killed are perching birds, such as American robins, ovenbirds, garden warblers and cedar waxwings.
"It's going to take public awareness and market pressure to stop this," he said.
Some progress has been made in preventing these tragedies, Klem said.
Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Penn., began using frittered, or frosted, glass after its entire native population of ruby-throated hummingbirds fell victim to this phenomenon.
But Swarthmore's successful implementation of Klem's research is overshadowed by the refusal of important industries to listen, he said.
Judges have ruled against applying the Migratory Bird Treaty Act -- which protects the migration paths of birds -- to glass collisions even though it's been used to stop the spread of pesticides in some areas and create stricter guidelines for the use of powerlines.
Klem also pointed out that while the technology has existed to create a new kind of window pane since 1985, research keeps falling through even though it is the best longterm solution to this problem.
"The hard part is trying to convince people this is a serious problem," Klem said.
He has, however, found eager allies in the North Shore Bird Club and Keep Evanston Beautiful.
Evanston resident Libby Hill has served as president of the North Shore Bird Club for the last four years and helped bring Klem to Evanston.
Hill, and other bird-lovers, said she has become concerned in recent years about some of the changes taking place in Evanston and on Northwestern's campus.
When she heard about the construction on the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center, especially the building's ceiling to floor windows, on Sheridan Road, she met with university staff and looked over a model of the new building, she said.
Hill said Klem may meet with the designer of the Ford Center this week to go over the plans and make the building safe for birds.
Members of both clubs said they plan to spread Klem's message throughout the Evanston community by educating the public about measures they can take to protect the bird population.
Residents can reduce the number of birds killed by moving their birdfeeders to within 1 meter of windows, covering windows with screens or decals or lining windows with strips of mylar or cloth.
"We hope to work with Northwestern and the community on the subject of birds and glass," Hill said.
Reach Christina Pfohl at c-pfohl@northwestern.edu.
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