Bird Friendly Buildings in Toronto - I see dead birds everywhere

Two more Canadian birds are now on the endangered species list. While I would like to blame Monsanto, I fear we are equally negligent because of reflective glass and diminished habitat; there are no Barn Swallows lining telephone wires anymore, because there no barns.

I read this in the Ottawa Sun a few months back, March 2013
http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/03/20/dead-birds-a-gruesome-sight-under-city-hall-walkway


This sunny walkway is a bird killer in Ottawa City hall.

There's a lack of awareness that the birds are in trouble. I see dead birds on concrete sidewalks almost every time I go into the downtown core of Toronto. Sanitary engineers employed by these glass office towers must dispose of at least one carcass a day. Bird strikes happen not because the birds want to get inside the buildings, or because they are crazy, but because they see a reflection of the open sky and so believe their path is clear. Newly developed technologies like Ornilux glass let birds see spider webs in window panes, even in strong sky reflections while humans see nothing on the inside and have to look hard to detect any difference on the outside. Bird friendly building treatments also include wire strips to prevent nesting in hazardous areas and maybe the site encourages nesting in safe and healthy areas. The place has proper lighting, and unusual angles that are friendly to flying birds.

City of Toronto has published these guidelines as pdf
http://www.toronto.ca/lightsout/pdf/rating_system_form_jan18.pdf



What are the known bird Friendly buildings in Toronto?

Is it true that condo buildings poison pigeons on rooftops?

Not to do with safe buildings, but I see many Falcons flying around downtown in the past couple of years. Their wing spans are huge and I sometimes see them suddenly diving in the distance, are they a predator for smaller birds? Perhaps another threat?

I also read many years ago that the City harvests pigeon and seagull eggs from nests and then destroys them to help keep the populations under control, I don't know if they still do it or not.

The falcons eat pigeons - if you ever see a pigeon wing just laying somewhere, that's a sign a falcon has been eating. They really keep the pigeon population down in my hood.

It might get messy. What I want to know as a ratepayer is if there is some sort of vulture we can bring in to keep cleanup costs down and hence property taxes low. I will write a letter to Rob Ford about this.

NY Times had a big article about this some months back. Toronto is one of the worst cities in the world for bird deaths.

"The group behind the bird patrol, the Fatal Light Awareness Program, known as FLAP, estimates that one million to nine million birds die every year from impact with buildings in the Toronto area. The group’s founder once single-handedly recovered about 500 dead birds in one morning."

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showth...-of-Toronto’s-Urban-Skies?p=681515#post681515

AndreaPalladio said:

The falcons eat pigeons - if you ever see a pigeon wing just laying somewhere, that's a sign a falcon has been eating. They really keep the pigeon population down in my hood.

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That's true. a falcon left a pigeons head on my friends balcony.

thedeepend said:

NY Times had a big article about this some months back. Toronto is one of the worst cities in the world for bird deaths.

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I recall reading because Toronto is located on a major migratory bird route.

dt_toronto_geek said:

Not to do with safe buildings, but I see many Falcons flying around downtown in the past couple of years. Their wing spans are huge and I sometimes see them suddenly diving in the distance, are they a predator for smaller birds? Perhaps another threat?

I also read many years ago that the City harvests pigeon and seagull eggs from nests and then destroys them to help keep the populations under control, I don't know if they still do it or not.

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One floor up -

Falcons, or just red-tailed hawks? Hawks are native to this part of Ontario and often spotted near Pearson Airport looking for field mice. There are a few peregrine falcons now nesting in Toronto, but I can't imagine that they're responsible for the all the pigeons disappearing.

The falcons are over by me. The only hawk I've seen took down a pigeon in the middle of York street on a Sunday morning a while back - naturally people whipped out their cameras as the hawk munched away.

Here are where the birds live in Toronto,

in the fascia boards above a Wing Machine
not just pigeons, but all manner of birds seem to live in here

Its a big city birdhouse

Arob said:

Here are where the birds live in Toronto,
View attachment 15409
in the fascia boards above a Wing Machine
not just pigeons, but all manner of birds seem to live in here
View attachment 15410
Its a big city birdhouse

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I'm glad I don't eat at Wing Machine!

ShonTron said:

I'm glad I don't eat at Wing Machine!

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Once was enough for me!

I once saw a peregrine falcon crash into one of the TD centre towers. Luckily for the falcon it was carrying a dead pigeon on its claws, so the body of the pigeon took most of the hit.

I've been seeing another peregrine falcon around Cityplace a lot this summer. Red-tailed hawks are most abundant in the parts of the city where you can see most squirrels.

ShonTron said:

Falcons, or just red-tailed hawks? Hawks are native to this part of Ontario and often spotted near Pearson Airport looking for field mice. There are a few peregrine falcons now nesting in Toronto, but I can't imagine that they're responsible for the all the pigeons disappearing.

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My office is near the airport so I see plenty of these larger birds, but many of them are there by design, as Pearson uses Falcons to chase away all manner of birds to prevent bird strikes with aircraft. A single bird getting sucked into a jet during takeoff can take down a plane (remember the jet that landed in the Hudson in NY? Canada Geese, apparently).

I often take Convair Rd around the front of the airport property and have counted 4 or 5 of these falcons, sitting on their preferred perches. I'm guessing there are a dozen or so on permanent watch, but they sometimes get distracted and need to be brought back. They'll cross over to the other side of the 401 or over Etobicoke Creek looking for field mice or other easy meals. I once saw the Falcon truck over on Orlando Dr, coaxing one of their birds off an office balcony railing.

Burlington dentist bird nest in sign

This Burlington dentist has a problem with a bird that nests in his sign and wont go away.
Earlier this year he had his whole sign replaced - because of bird damage and an obvious and messy bird nest in in the 'D' of dental. That sends a bad message to consumers.

So he upgraded to a sign with letters that are lit up at night. And when he put the sign back up.. the bird came back!

its a starling I reckon. This time it chose to nest in the letter 'E'

Dr Ralhan says nobody notices it in the 'E' .. And although the property manager offered to remove it, the dentist said not to touch it yet, but rather to wait until fall when its chicks have left the nest.. Do Starlings fly south? Will the bird return next year and make a new nest in a different letter?