by Kara Mickwiewicz
BirdSafe Maine is a partnership formed to spread awareness of and work towards protecting birds from window strikes. One strategy to accomplish this goal is honoring companies and people with inaugural Bird Safe Awards for prioritizing protection of birds from window strikes. The University of New England received the Award for Educational Excellence this month for the bird-protection glass that was used in Ripich Commons when it was constructed in 2018. Dr. Perlut and his students advocated for bird-safe glass installations in the front of the building, and was jointly named in the Award for Educational Excellence by BirdSafe Maine.
The Importance of Bird-Safe Glass Millions of birds are involved in window collisions each year, with over 50% of those collisions being fatal. Glass is not a material that birds can see, and the lights inside the buildings tend to attract the birds as well. With bird-safe glass, the UV mesh embedded in the glass forms a visible barrier in the windows for birds to see, while we enjoy a transparent window.
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