BALTIMORE — A Baltimore arboretum has found a solution to a deadly problem that has plagued birds for more than a decade, and the results have been immediate and dramatic.
Cylburn Arboretum installed new bird prevention window film in June that has completely eliminated bird strikes at the facility. Before the installation, the arboretum was seeing between 6 and 10 bird deaths daily during migration season.
"I can tell you it's heartbreaking to hear that thud against the window and to find them," said Christine Nutila, park administrator for Cylburn Arboretum.
WATCH: Baltimore arboretum eliminates bird strikes with new window film
The problem began as soon as the building opened in 2010, Nutila said.
"This building opened in 2010 and really the staff here realized almost immediately that there was gonna be an issue," she said.
Staff tried multiple solutions over the years to prevent bird strikes, including planting trees close to the windows and installing bird savers.
"The first things that they did about it was to plant trees in the front of the building pretty close to the windows, trying to deter and break up the flight pattern of the birds," Nutila said.
The bird savers were described as "basically a curtain that's made of rods that are 2 inches apart which deters the birds from striking the glass."
While these measures slowed down bird strikes, they didn't eliminate the problem entirely.
The new window film serves a dual purpose, providing both bird protection and energy savings.
"It's basically a solar film which reduces the heat gain inside the building. Our air conditioning works a little less hard. It also has etched dots on it which reduces bird strike," Nutila said.
The results have been remarkable since the June installation.
"It was installed in June. We have seen no bird strikes since, since then. Prior to that, during migration season, we were seeing between 6 and 10 a day," Nutila said.
Arboretum staff hopes their success will inspire similar projects throughout Baltimore.
"So we know that there are film projects going on all around the city, but they are focused more so on solar film. We're really hoping after the success of this project that we're gonna start to see the combination of the two in those projects," Nutila said.
"We wanna see both the bird strike film as well as the solar film combined in one."
The arboretum celebrated the project's success with a Birds and Brew Walk at 9 a.m. on Sept. 19, followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony with city officials at 10:30 a.m.
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