{"686884":{"#nid":"686884","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Students Collaborating with Nonprofit to Reduce Bird Collisions with Buildings","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn 2015, before the cleaning crews hit the sidewalks of downtown Atlanta and before scavenger animals arose to snag an easy meal, Adam Betuel would venture into the darkness of the early mornings to look for birds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome were still alive, but most of the birds were dead. They were all too easy to find.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI knew birds hit buildings, but I didn\u2019t know much more about the issue at that time, and I was surprised how easily I just found birds,\u201d Betuel said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBirds flying into windows aren\u2019t isolated events. Environmentalists estimate between 365 million and one billion birds die each year from colliding with structures in the U.S. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat statistic is hard for most people to comprehend,\u201d Betuel said. \u201cWhen you think about the millions of homes we have and these high-rise buildings, and if each one is killing a few a year, that number can get big pretty quick.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBetuel is the executive director of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.birdsgeorgia.org\/mission-and-programs.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBirds Georgia\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a nonprofit affiliate of the Audubon network that leads bird conservation efforts in Georgia. For 10 years, volunteers from the organization have combed Atlanta\u2019s streets, collecting bird specimens.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBirds Georgia launched Project Safe Flight in 2015 to reduce bird building-collision mortality through data collection. Through legislation, the group aims to make building construction bird-friendly and reduce light pollution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEnvironmentalists who study the issue have ranked Atlanta, which sits squarely on a migration route, as the fourth-most dangerous city for birds during fall migration. It is the ninth-most dangerous city during spring migration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe number of bird deaths from collisions in Atlanta and across the state remains unknown. However, new data tools developed by student researchers in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech are helping Birds Georgia get a clearer picture of the issue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve been working with different folks at Georgia Tech for years now, but it\u2019s really picked up lately,\u201d Betuel said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of momentum and interest on campus to try to make the city safer for birds.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPushing for Policy\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/abooneportfolio.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAshley Boone\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a Ph.D. student in human-centered computing in Tech\u2019s School of Interactive Computing, has led the student effort to help Birds Georgia organize its data.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoone said organizing data and knowing how to use it is critical to spark conversations about adopting legislation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe often see a gap between data collection and data advocacy,\u201d she said. \u201cBirds Georgia has done an amazing job of tracking collisions in Atlanta over the last 10 years. My goal is to understand the role technology can play in making data useful for policy change.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUser-interface tools designed by computer science undergraduate students James Kemerait and Ian Wood have\u0026nbsp;ramped\u0026nbsp;up that process. One tool converts data input into visualizations optimized for social media, while another consolidates the data collected by volunteers and external sources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoone said the desired legislation would mirror policies implemented by New York City. Those policies require the use of bird-safe materials \u2014 like window film with patterned designs that break up reflections \u2014 in new buildings and buildings undergoing significant renovations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat Can Residents Do?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResidents, whose homes account for about 40% of bird collision deaths in the U.S., can also make an impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHouseholds are an underexamined cause of bird collisions,\u201d Boone said. \u201cWe focus on the big buildings because it\u2019s easier to convince one manager of a large building to use bird-safe materials, and it\u2019s easier for a policy to address a commercial building. But the sheer volume of residential buildings in the U.S. has a tremendous impact on the number of collisions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESteps that homeowners can take include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EBuying bird-safe film or making do-it-yourself versions of it to put on windows.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EPlacing attractive objects like birdhouses and birdfeeders very close or very far away from windows.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETurning off lights after 9 p.m. on the busiest migration nights of the year.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBetuel said millions of birds can fly over Atlanta on a single night during migration, and they are attracted to the city lights.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThey\u2019ll come into urban centers and collide with an illuminated building, or maybe they overnight somewhere that isn\u2019t safe,\u201d he said. \u201cThe next day, they\u2019re surrounded by glass, and birds don\u2019t understand reflection.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResidents can visit the Birds Georgia website to sign up for the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.birdsgeorgia.org\/lights-out-georgia.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELights Out Pledge\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Those who sign up will receive a text on the 10 busiest migratory nights of the year, and they will be asked to turn their lights off early.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe tools provided by Georgia Tech gave Birds Georgia insight into the number of bird species affected by collisions \u2014 more than 140, according to Betuel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBetuel said that when the organization reaches an estimate of bird collisions, he hopes the number will raise alarms and turn people\u2019s attention to the ecological impact.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAll these birds being lost results in fewer birds to eat pest insects, fewer birds to pollinate flowers, fewer birds to disperse seeds \u2014 all the ecological functions that we need, that they\u2019re doing in the background that most people aren\u2019t keen to,\u201d he said. \u201cIf this decline in bird life continues to happen, at some point, there will be issues with our ecosystems functioning as they always have.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAtlanta is one of the country\u0027s deadliest cities for migratory birds. Human-centered computing students in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Interactive Computing are helping Birds Georgia organize its data to better understand how to reduce the likelihood of birds flying into tall buildings..\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Interactive computing students are developing new data tools to reduce bird\/building strikes in Atlanta, which is among the country\u0027s deadliest cities for migratory birds."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2025-12-12 22:04:38","changed_gmt":"2026-01-09 13:35:54","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678838":{"id":"678838","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech human-centered computing Ph.D. student Ashley Boone is building data tools to reduce the likelihood of birds flying into buildings.","body":null,"created":"1765577088","gmt_created":"2025-12-12 22:04:48","changed":"1765577088","gmt_changed":"2025-12-12 22:04:48","alt":"Georgia Tech human-centered computing Ph.D. student Ashley Boone is building data tools to reduce the likelihood of birds flying into buildings.","file":{"fid":"262927","name":"Ashley-Boone_86A1373-copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/12\/Ashley-Boone_86A1373-copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/12\/Ashley-Boone_86A1373-copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":66310,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/12\/12\/Ashley-Boone_86A1373-copy.jpg?itok=iPD3xf3i"}}},"media_ids":["678838"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"181991","name":"Georgia Tech News Center"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENathan Deen, Communications Officer I\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech School of Interactive Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Endeen6@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}