A few dots can make a world of difference when it comes to saving the lives of birds. In just one day in October 2023, nearly 1,000 migratory birds died while trying to make their way past Chicago along the coast of Lake Michigan. They were distracted by the light glinting off the windows of McCormick Place. The building is a massive convention center near the water. Hundreds of birds dove toward the reflection of the lake in McCormick’s broad expanse of glass. Most crashed into the barrier. Some emerged merely stunned. Many died. “They were continuing to crash as we were picking them up,” ornithologist David Willard told The New York Times. In total, Willard and his team counted 975 dead birds. All were victims of the windows. Experts estimate that between 365 million and 988 million birds die in the US each year from window collisions. McCormick Place has proven particularly deadly. That's mostly due to its huge banks of windows and its spot along Lake Michigan. But a tweak to those windows has made a huge difference. The tweak? A layer of tiny dots along the glass. Now, birds can see the windows as they fly. Willard estimates that bird deaths have dropped by 95% at McCormick over the past two years. Experts hope that data can convince officials to make similar fixes across the city. “I think that may win the day for us in City Hall,” Annette Prince told the Times. She's the director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors. “This is not just a maybe fix, this is going to make a significant difference in bird mortality.” Reflect: If you could design something to help protect animals where you live, what would it be and how do you think it could make a difference? Photo of migratory birds from Unsplash courtesy of Mohamed Fsili.
