Ithaca City Council to Consider Bird-Friendly Building Codes

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca Borough Council will discuss a new environmental protection bill aimed at protecting birds from premature deaths.

A proposed Ithaca Common Council resolution, sponsored by Fourth Ward Councilman Patrick Kuehl, would require all new buildings to meet a standard set by the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s LEED rating system to receive the Reducing Bird Collisions Credit. The credit mandates the use of bird-friendly materials, especially on lower floors of buildings.

The proposed regulations — which Kuehl has dubbed the “bird law” — would require all new buildings applying for a permit to submit documentation showing they meet certain bird-friendly design standards.

The proposed bird bill is similar to New York’s Local Law 15 of 2020, which was passed in December 2019. If legislation based on Kuehl’s proposal becomes law, Ithaca would join at least 20 cities and municipalities in the U.S. with bird-friendly laws. Kuehl is consulting with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to help develop the legislation.

At the July 17 Common Council meeting, Kuehl announced plans to hold a public forum to hear community input, which Kuehl said he has heard “surprisingly” much since the Common Council proposed legislation. The forum will be held July 27 at 3 p.m. in Kendal, Ithaca.

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, human activity has contributed to the decline of many bird species. One of the leading causes of bird death is collision with building glass, which claims the lives of more than 350 million birds each year.

A 2019 study by the Laboratory of Ornithology found that bird populations in the U.S. and Canada have declined by 3 billion birds, or nearly 30 percent.

To combat this drastic decline in bird numbers, scientists have begun using bird-friendly building materials that aim to reduce the number of times birds strike windows.

“Birds can’t see glass. They either see the reflections or they look through it and end up flying into it,” said Adam Vinson, a Cornell graduate student who works in the Lab of Ornithology. “So if you make it so that birds can see something, they’re less likely to fly into it.”

According to the American Bird Conservancy, some bird-friendly alternatives to traditional glass include angled glass, UV-patterned glass and opaque glass. Alternatively, developers can add netting, screens, strings or decals to make the window more bird-friendly.

While collecting accurate data on bird strikes is difficult, Vinson said bird strikes have become noticeably less common at the Ornithology Lab after the black Acopian BirdSavers paracord was installed.

“It was built with a 90 percent glass facade in the middle of the forest, and there had been a lot of collisions over the years,” Vinson said. “They used a pretty cheap solution with paracord … and it ended up reducing the number of collisions significantly.”

Miyoko Chu, senior director of communications at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said many of these bird-friendly options are not only affordable, but also aesthetically pleasing. After installing the BirdSavers in front of the Lab of Ornithology’s windows, Chu said the lab hasn’t received any complaints about their appearance.

“I think it’s very encouraging that when people see (BirdSavers) — I think they feel inspired that this is an action taken to help birds,” Chu said.

In June 2019, the Ithaca Common Council passed the Ithaca Green New Deal, a broad commitment to sustainability, carbon neutrality, and climate justice. In May of this year, the Common Council adopted the Justice50 framework, which aims to help communities disproportionately impacted by climate change.

For Kuehl, the proposal is a continuation of Ithaca’s efforts to become more environmentally friendly.

“I think in the context of sustainability, there needs to be an emphasis on environmental protection as well, and part of environmental protection is thinking about how do we build more sustainable built environments for things that are not human,” Kuehl said.

Kuehl, Chu and Vinson expressed optimism that the proposal will receive the necessary support from the Ithaca Borough Council and community, citing the city’s enthusiasm for sustainability and concern for birds.

“Birds are such a unique part of Ithaca’s character and beauty, and so many people in our community just love them,” Chu said. “It would be a real source of pride for Ithaca to be a bird-friendly city.”

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