Birds and the Built Environment: The Impacts of Architecture, Structures, and Green Spaces on Avian Populations in the United States Judy Bowes A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science University of Washington 2020 Committee: Alex Anderson Ann Huppert Kaeli Swift Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Architecture ©Copyright 2020 Judy Bowes i University of Washington Abstract Birds and the Built Environment: The Impacts of Architecture, Structures, and Green Spaces on Avian Populations in the United States Judy Bowes Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Alex Anderson Department of Architecture The history of modern bird conservation in the United States built environments starts with the success story of the peregrine falcon in the 1970s. Architecture was crucial to the recovery of this once-endangered bird. Architecture and designed green spaces also have been beneficial to the many other species that have successfully adapted to environments dominated by people. In turn, people have valued the enlivening, beneficial presence of birds in cities, parks, neighborhoods, and farms. This history demonstrates that birds are integral to the built environment. However, the built environment can also cause great harm to birds. Bird building collisions are one of the leading anthropogenic threats to birds, killing 365-998 million birds a year in the United States. Glass, lighting, and landscape elements contribute to this enormous loss. Solar and wind energy sources and infrastructure and communication towers also present significant hazards. These dangers in the built environment will have long term impacts on the overall population of birds in the United States and have contributed to a net loss of 29% of the bird population in North America since 1970. Mitigating the threats facing urban resident birds and migrating bird populations in the built environment depends on a clear understanding of birds as integral and essential to our built environment, a comprehensive assessment of built- environment threats birds face, a balanced approach to implementing effective collision mitigating design strategies, and development of regulations, policies and educational resources related to bird preservation in built environments. Building first on a history of birds and architecture, this thesis seeks to provide designers and architects with knowledge about how birds interact with the built environment, a critical assessment of design ii strategies and architecture-specific policies that benefit urban birds, and proposals for making built environments more amenable to birds through design, policy, and education. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my committee for remaining positive, encouraging, available, and supportive throughout this process. Their constant reassurance that I could produce my best work, even during trying circumstances, made this document possible. A sincere thank you to my committee chair, Alex Anderson, for encouraging me to research a topic I’m passionate about and enthusiastically agreeing to chair my committee. I am incredibly proud of the work I’ve produced with his guidance. I am grateful for Ann Huppert’s valuable advice and encouragement over the past year. Ann brought clarity to my writing that will allow readers from any field to appreciate the role of birds in the built environment. I will forever appreciate Kaeli Swift’s endless patience as I balanced two fields of information and standards while she contributed her avian expertise to this document. Kaeli’s exceptional ability to guide me to the material I needed to learn without making me feel incapable, gave me the confidence to fully embrace this topic as my career. I would like to acknowledge the kindness and support I received from the faculty, staff, and fellow students in the Department of Architecture and the College of the Built Environments. Thank you to Louisa Iarocci and Laure Heland for their early interest in this topic. Their thought-provoking lectures, teaching style, and support were instrumental in the foundation of my research. Thank you to “my birds” for teaching me patience, resilience, and that humans must do better to protect birds from preventable harm. Their histories, and an unforgettable volunteering experience, inspired me to study birds and the built environment. The following are some of the birds I worked with and how they were injured by anthropogenic hazards: Tussey, a majestic golden-eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) lives with injuries from colliding with powerlines. Barbi, a magnificent great-horned owl (Bubo virginianus) was injured by a barbed-wire fence. Beautiful Jerudi, a barred owl (Strix varia), sweetheart Novia, a barn owl (Tyto alba), triumphant Neo, a turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), and multiple avian ambassadors were injured by vehicle collisions. Additionally, Alula, a gorgeous red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) and Millie, a spirited peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), are powerful representatives of two influential species that symbolize the connection between birds and human civilizations as well as raptors and the built environment. I’m thankful for our four years of building trust together. And finally, thank you to Matthew Eckess for his endless support, caring, encouragement, and patience. I am eternally grateful. iv For Chantey, Kestrel, Rachel, Short-Ear, Two-Eye, and all of “my birds.” v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................................vi Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 Adaptations and Benefits of the Built Environment ............................................................................. 10 The Peregrine Falcon in Urban Habitats ............................................................................................................... 11 Adapting to Peri-Urban and Suburban Spaces ....................................................................................................... 16 Green Walls and Roofs as Habitat .......................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2 Negative Impacts of Architecture and the Built Environment ............................................................ 29 Dangerous Structures in the Built Environment...................................................................................................... 29 Bird Building Collisions .......................................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 3 Preventing Bird building Collisions with Design Solutions ................................................................. 55 Glass Solutions ........................................................................................................................................................ 55 Lighting and Landscape Solutions .......................................................................................................................... 72 Case Studies ............................................................................................................................................................ 75 Chapter 4 Avian Protection Policies and Design Guidelines ................................................................................. 84 Acts and Programs .................................................................................................................................................. 85 Sustainable Design Guidelines ................................................................................................................................ 89 Legislation ............................................................................................................................................................... 99 Chapter 5 Education and Advocacy ....................................................................................................................... 110 Advocating for Birds and Bird Conservation ........................................................................................................ 122 Aviaries and Rehabilitation Centers ..................................................................................................................... 126 Conclusion and Future Work ................................................................................................................................. 133 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................................... 136 Appendix 1: Loss et al.’s 2019 Figure 3: Collision Fatalities............................................................................... 136 Appendix 2: Data Tables of Klem’s 2009 and 2013 Open Field Experiments. ..................................................... 137 Appendix 3: The American Bird Conservancy’s (ABC) Threat Factor Results .................................................... 139 Appendix