Saving Feathered Lives With Bird Deterent
Sun Control of Minnesota are the window film professionals, offering a diverse range of services tailored for your business - from window film and wall graphics, to fleet wraps.
We want to highlight a particular product: Feather Friendly Bird Deterrent.
The Alarming Stats
More than 1 billion birds die annually in North America alone due to urban developments.
That’s roughly 10% of the total population. With every building we put up, we risk hurting the bird population more.
To birds, we’re the invasive species, taking over their real estate.
These collisions often occur on buildings as birds misinterpret transparent glass as open sky.
With Bird Deterrent, we’re able to minimize the risk, compassionately and effectively.
How The Deterrent Works.
Our Bird Deterrent is a specially designed film that incorporates a unique pattern. What may look like just dots to us up close, serves as a visual cue to birds, alerting them of the presence of glass and allowing them to adjust their flight path.
A study hosted by Feather Friendly® showcases that between two buildings in Delta, British Columbia, one with window film and one without, the one with markers reduced collision risk at the retrofitted building by 95%.
Why It’s Important:
Birds are essential to the health of our planet's ecosystems. Many birds, such as hummingbirds, feed on nectar from flowers. As they move from flower to flower, they transfer pollen between the plants, which helps them to reproduce.
It’s not just the hummingbirds, birds eat fruits and berries, and the seeds from these fruits pass through their digestive system and are deposited in their droppings. These seeds then germinate and grow into new plants, helping to regenerate forests and other habitats. Not only that, but with their diet of eating a variety of insects, they get rid of any pests that can damage our crops and garden.
We always think of bees as the heavy lifters for pollination, but birds are equally important in keeping the balance in nature.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Taking Action:
The USFWS Migratory Bird Program has implemented a nationwide policy mandating all new government buildings to be bird-friendly, aiming to eliminate bird collisions at its facilities by 2031. Recent examples include the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge visitor center and the Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge visitor center, built with bird-friendly designs from the start. So far, over 2,300 Service buildings have been surveyed for collision risks, and many have been retrofitted with bird-friendly materials.
We recently had the pleasure of installing Bird Deterrent at a library built locally here in the Twin Cities. A full glass building that is now safe for birds, without affecting the overall aesthetics of the building.
Some Installation Details:
To provide the best possible outcome, the bird deterrent is always installed on the outside. This provides the maximum amount of visibility of the unique pattern for birds. In Minnesota, it’s important we also install during warmer weather, with 40 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer during both daytime and nighttime.
We believe in creating a beautiful environment that’s not only safe for us, but safe for our feathered friends. With bird film, we’re able to address a critical environmental challenge, making a dent on the amount of bird lives saved.