Enjoy Free Access to the CSA Bird-Friendly Building Design Standard!

Have you heard? Feather Friendly® has sponsored FREE access to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) A460:19 Bird-Friendly Building Design Standard. We believe that providing citizens, architects, government officials, planners and other professionals with education and resources will make it easier for individuals across diverse industries to adopt and enforce bird-safe standards.

The CSA A460:19 standard outlines specific measures that can be taken to make new and existing structures safe for birds. Although the design standard was created in Canada, this set of detailed guidelines can be used on a global scale to reduce bird deaths. The document lists numerous requirements for glazing, integrated structures and building design, and will empower citizens, builders and architects to make bird-friendly decisions for new and existing projects.

An Overview of CSA A460:19.

Created in collaboration with industry experts across North America, the CSA A460:19 guidelines provide an in-depth history of glass in architecture, light pollution and window collisions to demonstrate how shifting trends in building design have affected birds. Because bird collisions can happen during any time of the day, and on all sizes and types of structures, this national standard offers innovative solutions that can be used to not only prevent bird collisions, but also improve overall building design.

The Standard lists four key hazards that affect migrating and local bird species:

1. Glass in Urban Settings.

According to the CSA Bird-Friendly Building Design Standard, “the vast majority of Toronto’s new mid- to high-rise buildings contain more than 60% glass.” And Toronto is not the only city that boasts a large amount of glass. Skyscrapers in cities such as Chicago and New York have caused massive amounts of bird collisions, too.

2. Collisions That Occur During the Day.

Birds do not perceive glass the same way that humans do. Because glass does not exist in their natural environments, birds see daytime reflections as an extension of their habitat and will collide with a solid window when they attempt to fly to a place that is in the reflection.

3. Collisions That Occur at Night.

Did you know that most bird species migrate at night? Although nighttime migration can protect birds from predators and keep them cool, nighttime collisions are very common, especially when birds are migrating through unfamiliar cities.

4. Light Pollution.

Keeping your home or office lights on at night can have a devastating effect on birds. Artificial light attracts and disorients birds and can ultimately lure them to their death.

Luckily, there are a whole host of solutions, like visual window markers, that can be used throughout all phases of building design to help reverse the effects of window collisions. Using the Feather Friendly® DIY tape kit is a great way to take a hands-on approach to bird safety. To explore the CSA’s full list of effective solutions, and to learn more about how you can protect birds in your city, visit the CSA A460:19 page on our website to get started!

Why Bird-Friendly Design Standards Matter

In addition to keeping birds safe, it is our hope that providing free view only access to the CSA Bird-Friendly Building Design Standard will help people educate themselves on bird conservation techniques and inspire them to advocate for bills and bylaws that pertain to bird-safety.

In an article published by Construction Canada, Daniel Klem Jr., an American ornithologist known for his research on window collisions, states that we have “a moral and ethical obligation and responsibility to make the human-built environment safe for birds.” As a national standard, the CSA A460:19 Bird-Friendly Building Design Standard signals the Canadian government’s commitment to raising awareness on bird collision prevention and is a vital first step toward protecting bird species from extinction. We must learn to recognize bird fatalities as not only an unfortunate event, but also a symptom of ecological suffering.

The CSA guidelines recognize the unique contributions that birds and other wildlife species make in our society. Birds have adapted to a multitude of human inventions and landscapes, and now it is time for us to do the same for them.

Discover Bird-Friendly Solutions with Feather Friendly®

Feather Friendly® is proud to provide free view only access to CSA A460:19 Bird-Friendly Building Design Standard. To enjoy your very own view-only access, simply use your e-mail address to create an account using the link on our website. Once you’ve created your account, you can enjoy two years’ worth of free view only access to the design guidelines. Additionally, purchasing a DIY kit or commercial bird deterrent product will provide you with approximately ten years of bird-collision prevention. To find more resources, and to start preventing bird collisions in your town or city, contact Feather Friendly® today!