Yard set-up could be harming birds: study

A new University of Alberta study shows bird lovers might be killing their feathered friends with kindness.

The study spent 18 months looking at more than 1,300 household reports of bird collisions with windows.

Justine Kummer, lead researcher for the study, says the reports show rural homes, bird feeders and yards with an abundance of vegetation are all major factors that lead to these strikes.

Kummer wasn’t surprised by the results.

“These people who are attracting birds to their yards are those same people who are having a lot of collisions,” she said “We can’t tell homeowners to not attract birds, so we want to try to find a way that they can keep doing that, and keep having birds in their yards.”

Her best advice is to move the bird feeders closer to windows, close blinds and use bird window decals.

She hopes the research will lead to more of a focus on finding bird-friendly urban designs in the future.

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