Patty Loew:
It's the tail end of the migration season as millions of birds wing their way across our state. It's a journey with many hazards including window collisions. "In Wisconsin" reporter Jo Garrett shows you some seasonal solutions that can save birds and energy costs in Milwaukee.

Jo Garrett:
The man walking through downtown Milwaukee is Scott Diehl. He's the director of wildlife rehabilitation for the Wisconsin Humane Society. And he is out to solve a problem. A problem with birds and glass.

Scott Diehl:
A lot of glass. A lot of glass. I think the bird collision issue has been one that has not had much awareness to date and when these buildings were built, there wasn't an awareness about the magnitude of this problem. Reasonable estimates place the mortality between 100 million and a billion native birds dying in North America each year in window collisions.

Jo Garrett:
The problem is bird/window collisions, what are called window strikes. To combat the problem the Wisconsin Humane Society has inaugurated a program called WINGS, Wisconsin Night Guardians for Songbirds. People like Diehl hit the city every morning during migration to look for casualties like this one. It's a warbler that Diehl found downtown. Every year in North America, hundreds of millions of birds die from window strikes.

Scott Diehl:
This bird that weighs ten grams has flown from Costa Rica or Panama to Wisconsin across so many hazards and they are at once amazing in their capability of flying those distances and traversing all those mountain ranges and rivers and oceans and yet a 1/16-inch piece of glass is enough to stop them permanently.

Woman:
I hear you. There you are.

Jo Garrett:
Most are in the dark about this problem. The Wisconsin Humane Society is on a mission to change that.

Scott Diehl:
It's great to be able to treat that bird and hopefully rehabilitate it. Get it out and get it released. How much better is it to prevent this in the first place? To stop this needless death and suffering for birds?

Jo Garrett:
Rehabilitation is costly and wildlife rehabilitators receive no public dollars. They exist on private donations.

Scott Diehl:
Weather conditions, windy. Rain.

Jo Garrett:
So the WINGS volunteer monitors not only collect birds.

Scott Diehl:
First bird was a Canada warbler.

Jo Garrett:
They collect information on the when and where of window strikes. With the hope of persuading business managers and owners to take steps to cut down on collisions.

Scott Diehl:
We want to go back to them and say here is what we found and be able to document the problem. Give us backup when we approach these folks and ask them to help us save birds.

Jo Garrett:
There are cities that have programs in place to reduce window strikes. One of the easiest for buildings is lights out at night. It has a huge benefit and not just for birds.

Scott Diehl:
It actually did a study in Toronto and the study actually indicated that each of those businesses that turned their lights out between the hours of about 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. During periods of peak migration, those businesses saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and reduced their carbon footprint.

Jo Garrett:
Lights out cuts down on collisions at nighttime. And inexpensive window treatments on the first two floors of buildings can cut down enormously on daytime collisions.

Scott Diehl:
You're trying to create some visible noise, an awareness that this way is not a good way to fly. Don’t come this direction.

Jo Garrett:
Homeowners can use these distractions too during migration time, to create what the Humane Society calls the bird-safe home. Some are small. Easily peel off after migration is done.

Scott Diehl:
These are static window clings. They can be put up and taken down easily without hurting the window. These have been up there for a couple of years and they came down that fast.

Jo Garrett:
This one peels off, too. It is meant to stay up for a long time.

Scott Diehl:
This is very similar to the product that you see on buses. People outside the house cannot see in very well so added privacy factor but this is very effective for cutting down on those reflections and really lowering bird mortality.

Jo Garrett:
The goal is to save these birds. But protecting these tiny migrating travelers could also serve to remind us of the change in seasons and provide us with a bit of ritual to mark our way.

Scott Diehl:
When I was a kid seasonally we used to decorate with something called glass wax.

Woman:
Why are we going to draw on the windows? For the birds. What will it help the birds do?

Child:
Not crash into the windows.

Woman:
That's right.

Scott Diehl:
You could have your children cut out decorative patterns, do something just for migration season. We're doing this for the birds trying to save birds.

Jo Garrett:
Dead or alive?

Scott Diehl:
Alive. Fortunately alive, which is wonderful.

Jo Garrett:
The little warbler Diehl found is alive. Diehl bundles the bird into a simple paper bag. It is dark and safe and the bird won't injure herself if she flutters about and tries to fly. And it's off to the Humane Society and some time in a bag on a heating pad.

Scott Diehl:
In this cold, wet weather she's probably a bit hypothermic, so we want to warm her up a bit.

Jo Garrett:
After the warming, her injuries are assessed.

Woman:
We'll look for eye injuries, head injuries, blood coming from the mouth. You can see this eye is a little bit swollen, looks a little dehydrated, droopy eyed. It is not open all the way like this one is. I'm just testing to see how they kind of bounce back into place. If they are broken they will droop down and they won't pop back into place like this one is doing. It looks in good condition and not feeling any breaks in the wings.

Jo Garrett:
After assessment it is time for a little re-hydration and a warbler- sized amount of medicine.

Scott Diehl:
We'll put it on the seam of the bill. This helps with pain and swelling and inflammation.

Jo Garrett:
The same day as this rescue, Diehl drove to Doctor's Park north of Milwaukee to band.

Scott Diehl:
Be careful.

Jo Garrett:
And release four birds brought back to health after window strikes.

Scott Diehl:
So just roll them over there, Elizabeth and let me get a leg. Okay. Ready to go. Be careful there, kiddo, don't you hit any windows. Success, wonderful. Oh, I hope they do well. We gave them a second chance anyway. There are 10,000 windows between here and where some of these guys want to be so we're hoping that people will get involved, take action on their own homes and businesses to help these little guys make it.

Patty Loew:
Now an update on that tiny yellow Canada warbler found injured during our report. It had a broken wishbone but after being immobilized for two weeks the bird healed and has been released back into the wild. For more information on how you can help migrating birds, just go to our website wpt.org and click on "In Wisconsin." You'll also find more details on the WINGS volunteer monitoring program sponsored by the Wisconsin Humane Society.