Bird Friendly Guidelines Development Services Committee October 22, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Bird Friendly Guidelines Development Services Committee October 22, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Building Markhams Future Together Journey to Excellence Bird Friendly Guidelines Development Services Committee October 22, 2013 Bird Friendly Guidelines Bird Friendly Guidelines 1 Building Markhams Future Together Journey to

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Bird Friendly Guidelines

Development Services Committee October 22, 2013

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Background

  • Markham’s Draft Official Plan (2012) and the Greenprint,

Markham’s Sustainability Plan (2011) support the development of Bird Friendly Guidelines (BFG’s)

  • April and December 2008 Council received presentations
  • n bird friendly measures
  • For private building design, City staff have to date

recommend following the City of Toronto Bird-Friendly Development Guidelines

  • Markham has been implementing bird friendly measures
  • n public buildings since 2009, and has received an award

from FLAP Canada for the retrofit projects

  • October 2012 the Planning Department initiated

preparation of the Bird Friendly Guidelines

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Bird Friendly Guidelines Study

  • City retained North-South Environmental

to undertake the study (March 2013)

  • Study team:

– terrestrial biologists – architects – landscape architects – advisors:

  • Dr. Daniel Klem (Professor of Ornithology)
  • Mr. Michael Mesure (FLAP Canada Executive

Director)

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Purpose of Study

  • Undertake research on locations and

circumstances where bird-window collisions (BWC) are most likely to occur and provide recommendations on an approach for Markham

  • Develop guidelines that will provide

solutions to reduce or eliminate BWCs

  • Test the guidelines through consultation

with local builders and developers

  • Recommend other implementation tools

as appropriate

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Bird Friendly Guidelines

  • To present a package of design

treatments and options for buildings and sites to reduce BWCs

  • To address site plan considerations, new

building treatments and retrofits for buildings

  • To recommend other measures that

Markham can employ to manage BWCs (i.e. lighting by-laws)

  • To be a resource document for the

development industry, planners and design professionals

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ST STUD UDY FI FIND NDING NGS

(NORT ORTH-SO SOUTH TH ENVIRONM ONMENT ENTAL AL INC.)

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Types of Birds

  • Migrant birds that stop to rest and feed (spring

and fall)

  • Breeding birds (late May to July)
  • Resident birds (all year)

Photographs: White-throated Sparrow – Shenandoah NPS/Creative Commons and Ovenbird – Tim Lenz/Creative Commons

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Problem Statement

  • Glass-faced buildings likely kill more birds

than any other man-made factor except habitat destruction

  • BWCs add to the cumulative impacts of

human development on birds

  • Major municipalities (e.g. Toronto, New

York, Portland, Chicago, San Francisco) have adopted guidelines for building design to mitigate BWCs

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Study Findings

  • 899 BWCs documented in Markham over

10 years: however there are very few monitored sites in Markham

  • Top 10 birds (accounting for over half of

the collisions) mainly consist of migrant, forest-dwelling songbirds that do not nest in Markham

  • Birds spread out into almost every area of

habitat in Markham during migration

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Migrant Birds

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Example

  • f a

monitored site

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Study Findings

  • Most BWCs occur in spring and fall (especially fall) –

mainly involve migrants

  • Most collisions occur near dawn and within 16 m

(4 storeys) of the height of a building

  • Songbirds are most common but some resident and

breeding birds are also involved

Photographs: Ruby-crowned Kinglet – ptgbirdlover/Creative Commons and Common Yellowthroat – Linda Tanner/Creative Commons

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Radar image

  • f maximum

concentration

  • f birds

migrating along Lake Ontario

Radar image from NEXRAD

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Legal Requirements

  • Migratory Birds Convention Act (Federal)
  • Environmental Protection Act (Provincial)
  • Species at Risk Act (Federal)
  • Endangered Species Act (Provincial)
  • Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals Act (Provincial)

  • Yonge Corporate Centre Case, Toronto

(charges in Ontario Judicial Court)

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How Bird Strikes Happen

  • Birds do not perceive glass as a barrier
  • Light draws birds into cities
  • Birds are drawn to habitat near windows

to rest and feed, and can’t see the hazard

Imprints on windows from bird window collisions (Photographs by FLAP Canada)

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Causes: Glass

Reflected Vegetation Clear Flight Paths

Reflection of trees in glass Clear glass with view to the

  • ther side is a hazard

Photographs by North-South Environmental Inc.

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Causes: Glass

Proximity to Feeding Grounds and Habitat Area

Photographs by Markham Staff

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Causes: Other

Building Features Weather Conditions

  • Fog and rain

Photograph by Markham Staff

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Causes: Lighting

Lights May Attract Birds at Night Birds can be Disoriented by Lights

Photograph by Markham Staff

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Bird Friendly Treatments

Markham Civic Centre 8100 Warden Ave. Fred Varley Museum

Photographs by Markham Staff

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Bird Friendly Treatments

Hilton Suites

Photographs by Markham Staff

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Recommendations

  • Be consistent with a precautionary

approach (invoking the precautionary principal)

  • Apply guidelines City–wide
  • Recommend specific design solutions

– new building construction – site plan developments – retrofit buildings

  • Retain BFG as a living document and

update regularly based on the best available scientific practices :

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Recommendations

  • Investigate and recommend appropriate

treatments for new buildings that are defensible and can be easily applied and incorporated into site and building design

  • Provide guidance on priority areas for

retrofitting

  • Recommend additional actions which

can assist in reducing BWCs (web based information, lighting policies and by-laws)

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Some form of window treatment and light- mitigation strategies are recommended by all agencies and cities that have committed to reducing BWCs

FLAP Canada, New York Audubon, American Bird Conservancy, Cities of Toronto, New York, Calgary, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago

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Changes to Practices

  • Toronto – Bird-friendly treatments must be

implemented as part of planning approvals

  • Calgary – guidelines are non-statutory
  • San Francisco – compliance with Bird Safe

Building Standards required for planning approvals if building is within open space or within 300 feet of urban bird refuge

  • Portland and Chicago – Bird friendly

guidelines non-statutory

  • New York – “Bird-friendly Buildings Act”

provides standards for public buildings

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Current Best Practices

Make windows visible to birds

Spacing for horizontal and vertical appliqué strips. (Photograph by ABC)

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Current Best Practices

Dots, stripes and external coverings have proven effective Examples of appliqué which meets bird friendly guidelines and used to prevent bird strikes

Photographs by FLAP Canada

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Examples of Primary Treatments

Treatments can be creative...

Photographs by FLAP Canada

Decorative Film

Graphic Design To cover at least 85% of all glass on new buildings with a pattern that increases visibility for birds

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Configuration of Treatments

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Examples of Secondary Treatments

Louvres Internal blinds and shades Up to 15% left untreated, enhance untreated areas

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Secondary Treatments

Enhance with vegetation positioned

  • r screened

so reflections are minimized

Site design can aid in reducing collisions, in addition to building treatments.

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Implementation

  • Integrate BFG into planning approval

processes including preparation of a Bird Friendly Checklist

  • Review Property Standards and Site Plan

Control By-laws

  • Discuss the development of a Monitoring

and Reporting Program, “Lights Out” Program, and Outreach/Education materials

  • City of Markham will continue to retrofit

existing buildings with the new Guideline standards

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Next Steps

  • Release of Draft Guidelines for

Review and Consultation

  • Stakeholder Workshop
  • Finalize Bird Friendly Guidelines

Fall 2013/Winter 2014

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Thank you – Questions?

Ovenbird Golden-crowned Kinglet Red-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper

Songbirds frequently involved in BWCs

Photographs by FLAP Canada