Sharing and saluting progress in making windows safer for birds

Plus save on window treatments with special SOS discount codes

Up to 3.5 billion birds die every year in the United States after flying into windows, nearly half at our home windows. The good news is there are many good options to make windows safer and Wisconsinites in growing numbers are tackling their worst windows for birds.

We salute and thank everyone who has treated their windows to protect birds! Below we share just a few recent examples of Wisconsin progress and ingenuity in helping birds beat this serious threat.

And we pass on special savings on window treatments including Acopian BirdSavers, Feather Friendly Pro DIY and DIY, Bird Divert, ABC Bird Tape and Avi-Dot Bird-Saver Window Stencil. Get your special SOS discount codes on our Mighty Migrations Discounts webpage. Thank you for treating your worst window before the peak of fall bird migration in September!

Badgerland Girl Scout Ellie Meng and her troop contributed $800 to help fund installation on Aug. 4 of window treatments at the new Door Creek Park pavilion in far east Madison. City of Madison Parks paid for the other half. The project was a partnership involving city parks, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, Ellie, other volunteers, and the manufacturer of the treatment, Feather Friendly, which discounted the material. Watch a news video about the project, and read more about the Aug. 22 workshop Ellie will lead at the Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center on preventing bird-window collisions.

SOS volunteer Tom Ziebell of Oshkosh advised Mosquito Hill Nature Center in New London on the pros, cons and installation tips for several treatment options. Ziebell, who coordinates SOS activities in northeastern Wisconsin, gave the center several Feather Friendly collision tape kits to put up and suggested they put up different treatments side by side so visitors could see them on actual windows.

Devin Biggs of Madison has sold 300 of the Avi-Dot Bird-Saver Window Stencil, left, since creating this adaptable, low-cost solution for preventing bird-window collisions in 2023. The 7.5" X 11.5" plywood stencil costs $25 and allows the user to apply a 2 x 2 inch dot-grid to window exteriors to break the reflective/transparent window illusion that causes bird strikes. Find the Avi-Dot in Devin’s Etsy store; marker sold separately.

Apply discount code FALLMIGRATION10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of the Avi-Dot Bird-Saver Window Stencil through Oct. 31.

Carl Gierke of Shiocton realized he could use leftover 2-by 4-inch wire fencing to prevent birds from hitting. He put his window guards up at his house and friends’ houses too.

Carl enjoys the occasional chickadee, Downy woodpecker, or tree frog hanging onto the mesh and peering in, providing face-to-face encounters. “The real pleasure comes in knowing you’re helping birds survive,” he says.

Read Carl’s story and instructions, and watch a video below to see what the view from inside his treated window looks like.