The employees of the Center for the Protection and Study of Birds sent an initiative to the Capital City, that is, to the relevant Secretariat and the Agency for Housing, to solve the problem of the collision of a large number of birds with glass on residential and commercial buildings through joint actions.
During the last few years, CZIP, as announced, has recorded an increase in the number of cases of bird strikes with fatal outcome, as well as an increase in the number of calls from concerned citizens who find injured and dead birds near the buildings where they work or live.
"The last such case was recorded on November 2, when a call was received from the employees of the Central Register of Business Entities, whose offices are located in a residential building on Vaka Đurovića Street, because of an injured forest owl (Strix aluco). The forest owl is otherwise protected by law species, quite rare in the capital, can be found in Gorica, in the vicinity of which it died. The employees who informed us about this case, said that it was one of the many cases of birds hitting the inadequately glazed staircase of the building, but that they had not asked for help because they were finding already dead birds, while this owl was alive. Unfortunately, due to a severe head injury, balance center and internal bleeding in the brain caused by the force of the impact, one of the most accurate raptors with impeccable vision had to be euthanized," it said. in the announcement of CZIP.
They add that it is common for birds to hit the windows because of the reflection of the vegetation they see through the glass and thus get the impression that there is no glass barrier.
"These continuous impacts can be deadly and affect the reduction of the populations of certain species in cities, which would be devastating for the population of the very rare forest owl in our city. According to a recent study, about a billion birds die in collisions with windows due to reflection. However, there is a very simple and cheap solution to this problem, which is to stick silhouettes of raptors on problematic windows. This practice is known all over the world, so silhouettes are stuck on windows near highways, at bus stops, which are usually made of transparent materials, residential and commercial buildings, and even houses if certain windows are problematic for birds".
CZIP invited citizens who witnessed birds hitting windows to contact them (marija.stanisic@czip.me or 020/272-051) in order to provide them with the necessary silhouettes that they would then stick on the windows of their buildings or houses.
"In this way, with the joint synergy of citizens and departmental institutions, and with the professional help of the CZIP, it is possible to repurpose problematic buildings into environmentally friendly buildings, and preserve some of the most endangered Podgorica predators, such as forest owls," the announcement concludes.
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