Death toll rising for birds in Atlanta

Desdemona Despair

By Sally Sears
3 April 2017

ATLANTA (CBS46) – Someone, or something, is killing thousands of birds in Atlanta. Since spring, the death toll began rising every week.

For Atlanta office workers, the dead birds are a sad sight at their doorstep. Now, Audubon Society volunteers are tracking and finding the dead or dying birds, many of them in Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Buckhead.

The most frequently found species is the ruby-throated hummingbird.

I took the birds’ deaths to heart, searching for the reason why the birds are dying.

I find it in our glittering urban architecture.

Birds have flown over north Georgia for millions of years, enjoying our trees and water to stop over on annual spring and fall migrations. But now, in the blink of an evolutionary eye, the flocks are finding a deadly obstacle.

Flying at night to avoid predators, the birds see brightly lighted skyscrapers. The lights attract attention. The birds fly into the glass walls and fall to their deaths.

Some are casualties of nighttime collisions with windows, while others circle in confusion until they become exhausted. When they land, they fall prey to other urban threats. [more]

Death toll rising for birds in Atlanta