Chicago Building Where Nearly 1,000 Birds Died in One Night Last Fall Installs Bird-Safe Window Film

Last October, a lakeside event venue in Chicago made headlines around the world after nearly 1,000 birds died in a single night after crashing into the building’s glass exterior. The next morning, the ground outside McCormick Place Lakeside Center looked like a “carpet of dead birds,” as one shocked onlooker described it at the time.

Now, ahead of the annual fall migration, the building’s managers are taking steps to make the facility safer for avians passing through the city. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which manages McCormick Place, is investing $1.2 million to cover the venue’s windows with a special film that’s designed to prevent birds from colliding into glass. Crews started work in early June and expect to wrap up by early September.

In addition to installing the film, the center plans to continue taking other steps to thwart collisions, such as drawing the drapes and shutting off lights at night, which is when many migratory species do most of their flying.

“As an organization that strives to be a good neighbor and environmental steward, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) remains committed to minimizing McCormick Place’s impact on local and migratory birds,” says Larita Clark, MPEA’s chief executive officer, in a statement, as reported by WTTW’s Patty Wetli.

Lakeside Center is one of the buildings that make up McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan just south of downtown Chicago, it’s also one of the easternmost structures along the city’s lakefront. Its facade is made up primarily of glass—containing roughly two football fields’ worth of windows, per the Chicago Sun-Times’ Kaitlin Washburn—which makes it particularly dangerous for migratory birds. And it was notorious among conservationists for killing birds long before October’s deadly event—a researcher described decades of bird strikes at the building to Audubon magazine in 2021.

Birds typically do not perceive windows as solid objects, so they have a tendency to fly right into them. Adding another layer to birds’ confusion, windows also reflect the surrounding scenery, whether that’s grasslands, trees or, in Chicago’s case, the wide open waters of Lake Michigan. Birds see the reflections and think they have a clear path forward.

In addition, because migratory birds typically fly at night, artificial lighting can lure them off course. When lights are on behind a window, it draws in birds, and the skyglow around cities can encourage them to fly toward hazardous urban areas. As such, birds are particularly vulnerable to light pollution, which is getting worse.

To help with the window issues specifically, crews at Lakeside Center are adhering film that’s covered in tiny dots to the glass. The pattern should help make it easier for birds to tell the difference between windows and open air.

Chicago is a particularly perilous place for migratory birds. It’s located within the Mississippi Flyway, a major migration route for birds traveling between North, Central and South America every fall and spring. Chicago is the deadliest city in America for migratory birds, followed by Houston and Dallas, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The managers of some Windy City structures—like Lakeside Center—are voluntarily implementing bird safety measures. But conservation advocates would like the city to mandate such measures for all new and renovated buildings, following in the footsteps of New York City; Washington, D.C.; Evanston, Illinois; Madison, Wisconsin; and others.

“Fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, handicap accessibility … we don’t let those things be optional,” says Annette Prince, director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, to the Chicago Tribune’s Karina Atkins. “We say this will affect somebody’s ability to be safe. And these bird protection measures will decide whether a building kills 1,000 birds or not.”

Sarah Kuta | READ MORE

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.