On October 13th the Austin City Council will be reviewing the ordinance to modify the land use plan for the Austin American Statesman “PUD” and Travis Audubon encourages its members to contact their Council Member about the project. The Developer has asked to only use bird-friendly glazing (15% reflexivity) on the lower portions of their buildings– we need them to do better to protect birds and wildlife! Please write to your Council Member asking for them to require 15% reflective glass for all building glazing systems at the Statesman PUD project, no matter the height, as recommended by the American Birding Conservancy. You can use the talking points below, and brief, clear comments will be the most effective. Be sure to email your comments before Thursday.
Statesman PUD Talking Points:
- As an Austin resident and member of Travis Audubon, I am writing to express my support for a recommendation calling for no more than 15 percent reflective glass for all building glazing systems at the Statesman PUD project, no matter the height.
- The 15 percent number has been described by the American Bird Conservancy as the limit needed to safeguard birds from window collisions, which are estimated to kill up to 1 billion birds a year in the United States.
- Austin carries a unique position along the Central Flyway extending from South America to the Arctic. Each spring and fall, an estimated 2 billion birds use the flyway to move between their breeding grounds and their winter resting places. Many others remain in Texas throughout the year. Both migrating and resident birds have this in common: they are both drawn to light and confused by reflection.They fly toward reflection, thinking it is open space. And the consequences are nearly always fatal.
- Along the flyway, birds use landmarks to help them navigate. One of those landmarks is the Colorado River. Because The Statesman PUD project is situated so near to the river, it is essential that the developers use materials and practices that meet or exceed standards concerning glass reflectivity, exterior lighting, and light trespass. Collisions happen most when birds are most active, and with the Statesman PUD site so near to water and food resources, this will be almost all the time. In addition, different species of birds migrate at different altitudes, so protecting birds only at the lower portion of the building will not be enough to deter collisions.
- We encourage the developers to look to examples of innovation for bird-friendly glass buildings. For example, in 2015 at the Javitz Center in New York City, bird-friendly architects renovated a notorious “bird-killer” façade with low reflectivity glass containing a dot pattern that is hardly visible to humans. This decreased bird collisions at their site by more than 90 percent. Philadelphia has taken drastic steps to protect migrating birds after a tragic mass collision took the lives of thousands of birds on a single night. Toronto, Minneapolis and Portland are among a growing list of communities working to make their cities safer for birds.
- Austin developers should also be leading in this area. As our community grows, embracing safe and smart development is entirely consistent with what people want and what wildlife need.
- Birds are connected to humans in complex ways that all of our lives depend on. We have the knowledge, resources, and technological ability to make the Statesman PUD as bird friendly as possible from the start.
- It’s time to do more than the minimum for birds to be safe in our city. Please require no more than 15 percent reflectivity for this project.
