Our Crowdfunding Groups
An estimated 1 billion birds die in window collisions in the U.S. every year. One. Billion. We want to find ways to reduce the number of collisions and do it by working with undergraduate research students. Our goal is to identify solutions to this problem while providing an opportunity for students to actively participate in field research and gain experience to complement their academic work.
Our students will work with professionals from the Conservation Management Institute at Virginia Tech to monitor bird-window collisions in business and residential settings. Undergraduate researchers will work with other volunteer students to gather data and use it to answer questions about the factors contributing to bird-window collisions. Follow-up projects will use experimental designs to test methods for reducing the rate of window collisions.
This project provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to actively participate in field research, analysis, and presentation of results. The funds raised will support undergraduate researchers who will organize volunteers, manage data collection, develop research proposals and plans, complete analysis, and present research findings. This experience will equip them with the skills they need for success after college as young professionals.
This species had the greatest number of observed window kills. Your $7 donation will support our work for approximately the cost of five pounds of birdseed.
Dark-eyed juncos are winter visitors that frequently fall victim to reflective glass. Your $16 contribution will help reduce window strikes - one of many threats to migratory birds.
Cedar waxwings travel in flocks, leading to group collisions with windows. Your donation of $24 will cover the cost of a student researcher for a day.
American robin fledglings are particularly susceptible to collisions with reflective glass. Your donation of $57 provides $1 for each of the bird species identified in our pilot project.
Woodpeckers like the yellow-bellied sapsucker are often fooled by reflections of lone trees . Your donation of $129 will cover the cost of an undergraduate researcher for a week.
Common nighthawks are just one of the species in dramatic decline. We documented 242 different individual bird deaths in one research park during our pilot study. This giving level recognizes each of those fatalities with a $1 donation.