Help Us Pass Austin’s Bird-Friendly Building Ordinance

In 2024, the City of Austin passed a resolution directing the City Manager and staff to explore ways the city’s building code could be modified to be more bird-friendly and reduce collisions with buildings.

Throughout 2025, city staff conducted a thorough review of best practices from other cities, along with recommendations from the American Bird Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They also hosted public stakeholder meetings to determine what approaches would work best for Austin. The result was a flexible suite of options — rather than a one-size-fits-all requirement — allowing developers and builders to choose from multiple bird-friendly strategies.

However, the City Manager determined that one key element was still missing: bird-strike data specific to Austin. This is where you can help.

Submit Bird Collisions You Encounter

Method 1: BirdMapper

1. Sign up at BirdMapper.Org to begin reporting your observations.
– The website includes short, easy how-to videos demonstrating how to submit reports properly.
– Report your findings in the Travis County Bird Strike Task Force 2026 Survey
– You must sign up for an account before reporting, but you do not need to set up a new survey. Just use the one above.
2. Reporting can be done at any time of day. However, if you are in the downtown or Domain areas, early morning surveys are especially helpful before maintenance crews clear the birds away.
3. Encourage your neighbors to report collisions to you — or invite them to become citizen scientists themselves.
4. You may report bird strikes anywhere in Travis County – at your home, at your office, on your weekend errands. Incidental observations are encouraged.
5. Please direct any questions about the Travis County Bird Strike Task Force 2026 Survey to Jennifer Bristol at jen242@me.com.

Method 2: iNaturalist

Add your observations by reporting it on the iNaturalist project Austin Bird-Building Collisions

Spread the word about reporting building collisions – download our helpful one-pager.

If you find an injured bird, please call Wildlife Rescue 512-472-9453. Please note, it is against the law to keep a wild animal in your possession, even if it is dead. If you find a dead bird, U.S. Fish & Wildlife advises: Dead birds should be left where they are or promptly disposed of (if you move a dead bird, wear gloves and wash your hands afterwards as a safety precaution).

Sign the Petition

Let City Council know that you support bird-friendly building design in Austin by signing our petition.

Take Preventative Action

Turn off building lights at night during migration. Did you know that birds use the night sky to navigate? From high altitudes, our bright cities introduce competing light sources which confuses birds’ sense of direction.
Disrupt window transparency and reflections. It is difficult for birds to distinguish between our windows and the open sky. Decals or window films can help them avoid an unfortunate collision.
- See American Bird Conservancy’s recommended products
Birds migrating on the Central Flyway make a pit-stop in Austin to re-fuel. Plant bird habitat to create a safe migration stopover space where birds can rest and recover on their journey. Placing your feeder less than 3 feet or more than 30 feet away from the building has proven to be safest for birds.

Donate

When you donate to Travis Audubon, you are supporting our ability to purchase materials for our study and offer important outreach and education for the whole community.

Donate to make a difference!