Presenter: Taylor Kenyon, College of Science, Biology
Authors: Taylor Kenyon, Jacob Larkin, Hunter Martin, Brooklyn Kotter, Cristian Soto, Karissa Sears, and Dr. Jessica Habashi
Faculty Advisor: Jessica Habashi, College of Science, Biology
Institution: Utah State University
Around 97.6–975.6 million birds fatally collide with windows each year in North America. Bird age could be a contributor to the collisions. The central focus of our research project is to determine if there is a statistically significant relationship between the age of an individual bird and the likelihood of a fatal collision with a human-made window. The data collection method that will be used for this project is a hybrid of primary and secondary research. Personally collected data regarding window collisions, will be obtained from daily surveys of the Classroom and Student Services (CSS) Building at the Utah State University-Brigham City campus (Brigham City, UT 84302). These data will be combined with census data from three previous years. By examining the carcasses of the birds that have collided with the CSS Building to determine their ages, we hope to determine whether individual bird age is a determining factor in fatal window collisions. If the data we find suggests that there is a correlation between age and collisions, mitigation measures will be investigated. If younger individuals are more likely to collide, we could propose the placement of collision deterrents to the campus administration as juvenile mortality would be incredibly detrimental to bird populations. If a bird dies before reaching sexual maturity, population numbers can plummet. If it is found that older birds are more likely to collide, mitigation efforts could be oriented towards older individuals. Future projects may be needed to assess why younger or older birds collide more often. Should no correlation between age and collision likelihood be found, our work will serve as a useful source of raw data for future bird-window collision projects.