There are two ways birds die when they collide with glass. They break their necks, and die sooner. Or, the suffer concussions, and, very often, die later, after flying away. I'll bet the Minnesota Vikings football team doesn't know about the concussion part.
It does appear as of Thursday morning, however, that even if they did it would make little difference. The team is adamant about not spending some of our money on stadium glass that would make collisions by birds less likely.
You'd think that the Vikings, of all people in town, would understand concussions.
And you'd wish that the team had more regard for our money. Even after we gave the Vikings hundreds of millions of dollars for their fancy new home it is, after all, our money.
The stadium is designed to feature vast panels of glass. It is to be a glass palace. It is to be, so far, a glass killing zone for migrant birds.
The paper this morning indicates that some members of the Minneapolis City Council are aware of the problem, and understand the use of the bird-safe glass. It could be substituted for regular reflective at the cost of about a million extra dollars. Lots of money, certainly, but if you've been following stadium construction news the Vikings have yet to blink on any extra cost, whatever it might be.
Why do birds collide with window or door glass? Because it is invisible to them. It reflects the background, appearing to be nothing but the habitat through which they always fly, unharmed. There is glass available that contains markings visible to birds but not to you and me. The markings warn birds away. This glass is in use throughout the country; it's not some yet-to-be-tried idea.
National Audubon, through Audubon Minnesota, is collecting petition signatures from people who support use of bird-safe glass. The last count I saw was 45,000 signees, with 65,000 the initial goal. That would be one signature for each seat in the stadium. The American Bird Conservancy, based in Washington, D.C., has joined the effort to change the glass. This is becoming an issue with a national profile.
