Minhye Lee, a third-year student at Atlantic Veterinary College, is conducting a study looking at collisions between birds and windows on the UPEI campus. Yutaro Sasaki/Local Journalism Initiative Photo by Yutaro Sasaki /Local Journalism InitiativeArticle contentAs collisions with windows kill millions of birds in Canada every year, an Atlantic Veterinary College student is hoping to help stop them on the UPEI campus.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentIn an interview with The Guardian on July 28, Minhye Lee, a third-year student, says approximately 25 million birds in Canada die from window collisions annually.Article contentArticle contentAnd, with the university expanding its campus recently, Lee is on the hunt to find out if windows pose any harm to birds flying around the school’s buildings.Article contentArticle content“There hasn’t been any baseline study on any of these topics in this location. So, we wanted to see if it’s like an actual risk on campus,” Lee said.Article contentFrequent flyerArticle contentP.E.I. is a popular migratory pathway for wild birds, Lee said.Article content“Towards the fall and then also in spring, we got more birds moving around. Those birds are more likely to collide because they’re new to this location and they’re flying through the location,” she said.Article contentAs no baseline study exists regarding bird-window collisions in P.E.I., Lee was unsure what types of birds could be affected by the campus’s environment.Article content“But based on my previous experiences, it can be any bird, small birds, or larger raptor-type birds,” she said.Article contentHowever, smaller birds face a higher risk of death due to their size, which makes them unable to withstand the force of the collision, Lee added.Article content“But the larger birds tend to end up with severe injuries and survive. So they have to go through a long rehabilitation after that,” she said.Article contentArticle contentThe projectArticle contentIn order to approach the bird-window collision project accordingly, Lee and her team first looked at what other Canadian universities have done in the past.Article content“We’ve looked at different risk factors they evaluated on and then type of studies. And then we evaluated the buildings based on those factors,” she said.Article contentDaily, Lee patrols the buildings she believes to be at a high risk of bird-window collisions.Article contentLee’s team has launched an account on Instagram @birdsafe.upei, where people can interact with them regarding bird-window collisions. Users are also welcome to report any sightings of a bird-window collision that happen on the UPEI campus.Article content“If we discover that those buildings are actually at a higher risk, we are hoping to promote retrofitting, like adding dots on the windows or asking for policy changes, potentially,” Lee said.
AVC student takes action in conserving P.E.I. bird population
