More Than 1,000 Birds Collided With a Single Chicago Building in One Night

*Volunteers found 964 birds that died in collisions with Chicago’s McCormick Place in one night. Photo: Daryl Coldren*

By Lauren Leffer, Reporter, Audubon Magazine, October 6, 2023

As Dave Willard approached McCormick Place Lakeside Center, the Chicago convention center abutting Lake Michigan, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, he heard more calls of night-migrating birds than usual. But still, he didn’t know what he was in for. “I didn’t anticipate what I was going to see when I got up to the building,” says the collection manager emeritus in the Bird Division at Chicago’s Field Museum. Rapidly though, uncertainty gave way to shock and dismay at the scene that lay before him: hundreds and hundreds of dead and stunned birds.

Read the full Audubon article by clicking the button below:

Read the Audobon Article Here

Petitions Were Delivered to McCormick Place

The petition with over 10,300 signatures was presented, and some of your comments were read. We informed the MPEA that many of you gave your email addresses for updates, and offered to pass along any message from them to those of you that gave your emails.

Board members and CEO Larita Clark thanked us and expressed a desire to treat the windows in some way in order to greatly reduce collisions. We look forward to their decision and hope that birds’ lives will be spared during spring migration.

10.31.24 UPDATE: McCormick Place Takes Action to Reduce Bird Strikes

For decades, migrating birds have collided with the windows at McCormick Place. This year, in response to concerns voiced by many advocacy groups, McCormick Place installed Feather Friendly visual markers designed to reduce bird strikes. Feather Friendly’s solutions have proven effective across multiple projects worldwide. In addition, McCormick Place has begun to turn off its lights at night, especially during the spring and fall migration seasons. As a result, the number of bird strikes has decreased significantly.

Learn more from McCormick Place by clicking this button:

A Commitment to Bird Conservation at McCormick Place

Kudos to McCormick Place! Bird-friendly windows should be part of all building designs. If not part of the initial construction, bird-friendly markers can be placed on windows as a retrofit. More generally, during bird migration, exterior and interior lights should be turned off. Lights at night draw migrating birds from their nocturnal flights into cities and suburban areas. Once in lighted areas, birds will strike lighted windows, including atrium windows.

Learn more from a recent article by Block Club Chicago .

Recent data suggests that a minimum of 1 billion birds die each year in just the US from striking windows, with the possible number being as high as 5 billion. As studies continue to show that light at night causes bird strikes, many cities are taking action to turn lights off at night. “Lights Out” initiatives are now active in Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and many other cities.

Read more about Lights Out by clicking here.

At the residential level, more homeowners are turning lights off at night. At the state level, the new Outdoor Lighting Control Act will address outdoor lighting at all state parks and wilderness areas.

Thank you for helping to protect our feathered friends!!

Watch Feather Friendly’s video about the installation of their markers at McCormick Place.