Bird protection treatments reduce bird-window collision risk at low-rise buildings within a Pacific coastal protected area.

Background: In North America, up to one billion birds are estimated to die annually due to collisions with glass. The transparent and reflective properties of glass present the illusion of a clear flight passage or continuous habitat. Approaches to reducing collision risk involve installing visual cues on glass that enable birds to perceive glass as a solid hazard at a sufficient distance to avoid it. Methods: We monitored for bird-window collisions between 2013 and 2018 to measure response to bird protection window treatments at two low-rise buildings at the Alaksen National Wildlife Area in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. After 2 years of collision monitoring in an untreated state, we retrofitted one building with Feather Friendly® circular adhesive markers applied in a grid pattern across all windows, enabling a field-based assessment of the relative reduction in collisions in the 2 years of monitoring following treatment. An adjacent building that had been constructed with a bird protective UV-treated glass called ORNILUX® Mikado, was monitored throughout the two study periods. Carcass persistence trials were conducted to evaluate the likelihood that carcasses were missed due to carcass removal between scheduled searches. Results and Conclusions: After accounting for differences in area of glass between the two buildings, year, and observer effects, our best-fit model for explaining collision risk included the building's treatment group, when compared to models that included building and season only. We found that the Feather Friendly® markers reduced collision risk at the retrofitted building by 95%. Collision incidence was also lower at the two monitored façades of the building with ORNILUX® glass compared to the building with untreated glass. Although more research is needed on the effectiveness of bird-protection products across a range of conditions, our results highlight the benefit of these products for reducing avian mortality due to collisions with glass.

Wind conditions on migration influence the annual survival of a neotropical migrant, the western yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens auricollis).

BACKGROUND: Long-distance migratory birds in North America have undergone precipitous declines over the past half-century. Although the trend is clear, for many migrating species underpinning the exact causes poses a challenge to conservation due to the numerous stressors that they encounter. Climate conditions during all phases of their annual cycle can have important consequences for their survival. Here, using 15 years of capture-recapture dataset, we determined the effects of various climate factors during the breeding, wintering, and migrating stages on the annual survival of a western yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens auricollis) population breeding in southwestern Canada. RESULTS: El Niño effects over the entire annual cycle had little influence on the annual apparent survival of yellow-breasted chats. However, we found evidence that wind conditions during migration, specifically average westerly wind speed or the frequency of storm events, had significant adverse effects on adult annual apparent survival. In comparison, precipitation levels on wintering ground had little to no influence on adult annual apparent survival, whereas growing degree days on the breeding ground had moderate but positive effects. CONCLUSIONS: In the face of climate change and its predicted impacts on climate processes, understanding the influence of weather conditions on the survival of migrating birds can allow appropriate conservation strategies to be adopted for chats and other declining neotropical migrants.

The influence of water quality on the embryonic survivorship of the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) in British Columbia, Canada.

In Canada, the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) is a critically endangered species with only three known populations and an estimated breeding population of less than 400 located in isolated sites in the extreme south-west corner of British Columbia. Floating Nitex cages were used to assess embryonic survivorship in two populations of Oregon spotted frogs from 2002-2005. One population, near Aldergrove, BC experienced declines in population size while the other population, at Maria Slough, increased during the period 1997-2001. During embryo development, we measured trace metals, nutrients and physical parameters in the water at each site. These were used to test the hypothesis that water quality parameters were correlated with embryonic survivorship. During the study period in the declining population at Aldergrove R. pretiosa bred at two distinct sub sites (A and B) located 500 m apart within the wetland. Mean embryonic survivorship varied from 9% to 36% at sub site A and from 78% to 88% at sub site B whereas in the population in Maria Slough, the mean embryonic survivorship varied from 77% to 84%. Sulphate was the only water chemistry variable that differed significantly between the two study sites and was the highest at Maria Slough. A weak significant positive correlation was found between chloride and embryonic survivorship and conductivity and embryonic survivorship. A multiple regression model found conductivity was the only significant variable. We concluded that natural water chemistry conditions of low chloride and consequently low conductivity may be contributing to low embryonic survivorship in the population of R. pretiosa at MD Aldergrove, BC.