50 States, 50 Fixes
An Illinois Building Was a Bird Killer. A Simple Change Made a World of Difference.
Chicago is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States for migrating birds, and a glassy lakefront conference center was especially lethal.
The morning promised to be deadly.
High above Chicago, in the predawn dark, flew an airborne river of migratory birds. It was peak spring migration traffic, in late April, and the tiny travelers were arriving at one of the most perilous points along their journey.
These birds, inhabitants of forests and grasslands, do not perceive glass as solid and get confused by its reflections. Bright city lights seem to attract them, luring them into glassy canyons. The gleaming buildings of Chicago, curving along the shore of Lake Michigan, are especially lethal.
50 States, 50 Fixes is a series about local solutions to environmental problems. More to come this year.
A call went out to volunteers across the city: Be ready to hit the streets early to rescue the injured and document the dead.
But at the building that has long been the city’s most notorious bird killer, a sprawling lakefront conference venue that claimed almost a thousand birds on a single day in October 2023, new protections were in place.