Lifestyle

1/3 of Birds in S’pore Died from…Crashing into Buildings

2018-02-01 , 2:17 pm

Last Updated on 2018-02-02 , 5:10 pm

According to The Straits Times, almost a third of resident birds found dead in Singapore over a four-year period were killed because of collisions with buildings.

If you have no idea what’s all these “collisions” I’m talking about, watch this five-second clip:

That’s right, birds are that ‘dumb’, if you would call it.

But there’s a reason behind everything, which I shall explain later on.

First, statistics.

Between November 2013 and October 2017, a total of 362 bird carcasses were picked up by ornithologists from institutions such as the National University of Singapore (NUS), non-profit body BirdLife International and Nature Society (Singapore).

They were alerted to the carcasses by members of the public.

A study led by Mr David Tan from NUS found that 104 of the carcasses were found at the bottom of buildings.

Each showed signs of “facial injury” or “head trauma”, which confirms the cause of their deaths.

However, the majority of the carcasses has an unidentifiable cause of death.

The remaining ones were killed in various ways, such as collisions with vehicles and attacks by other animals as part of the life cycle.

We’re not alone

There’s no need to rethink our infrastructural expansions- this is not a problem unique to Singapore.

Over in North America, the number of deaths (of birds, not humans) ranges from 100 million to one billion every year. And it’s all caused by buildings.

(Ironic right? The building is stationary and non-living but yet a deadly ‘murderer’…)

Other findings

The study also found that some species of resident birds were more have higher chances of colliding with buildings.

Pink-necked green pigeons, Asian glossy starlings and Asian emerald doves seemed exceptionally vulnerable, amounting up to 64 out of the 104 carcasses found.

“Given the patchy distribution of parks and forest fragments in Singapore, it is likely these nomadic forest-edge frugivores pass through urban areas as part of their foraging movements, which increases the likelihood of building collisions occurring,” the scientists said in the study.

What we can do

Dr Yong Ding Li from Nature Society (Singapore) said this suggests that buildings near nature areas could integrate wildlife-friendly measures in their designs.

One example would be reducing the use of huge glass panes which birds tend to crash into.

In New York, an increasing number of building owners are turning off non-essential lights after becoming aware of the fatal attraction birds have to lights.

Since 2005, over 90 buildings in the city have joined the Lights Out scheme, which encourages buildings to take a lights-off approach to keep birds safe.

Here in Singapore, scientists hope that more can be done to reduce bird-building collisions.

Since you’re here, why not watch a video about a guy who lodged a Police report here in Singapore because he was friendzoned? Seriously. Here, watch it and do remember to share it (and also subscribe to Goody Feed YouTube channel)!

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

1/3 of Birds in S’pore Died from…Crashing into Buildings

We’re not alone

Other findings

What we can do

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