McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago is the largest convention center in North America. It’s also largely covered with glass — and for years it’s been the cause of a staggering amount of bird deaths.
In fact, in October 2023, at least 1,000 birds died from colliding into the building on a single day as they migrated south for winter.
“Anywhere you’ve got glass, you’re going to have birds hitting the windows,” Bryan Lenz, a director at the American Bird Conservancy, told The Guardian.
In the United States, up to 1 billion birds die each year from window collisions, and the skies of Chicago are particularly affected, as it serves as a critical migratory corridor.
Fortunately, after the incident in October 2023, the public petitioned for McCormick Place to take responsibility and prevent future casualties.
“A thousand birds in one day is staggering, but no less sobering is the tens of thousands that have died here through the years,” conservationist Annette Prince told board members that fall.
“Just as [McCormick Place] seeks to welcome visitors to Chicago from around the world, please implement the long overdue measures that will ensure that millions of invaluable and irreplaceable avian visitors that we host each year will have safer passages through our city.”
Prince’s plea was paired with a petition from Chicago Bird Alliance president Judy Pollock, which garnered 10,000 signatures in just a matter of days.
“This is an example where our city can make a huge difference for these birds,” Pollock said.
“I don’t want any death of any kind,” replied Larita Clark, CEO of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority — which oversees McCormick Place. “We’re going to do our part.”
Over a year later, it seems the board members behind McCormick Place were true to their word.
In a move supported by the American Bird Conservancy, they consulted with Feather Friendly, a company that installs bird-friendly window deterrents on a residential and commercial scale.
In 2024, Feather Friendly added bird-safe film to the exterior of the building— the equivalent of two football fields worth of windows.
The polka dot formation on the film disrupts the reflection of the glass, making it easier for birds to detect and avoid.
And now, according to data recorded during the fall migration period, bird collision deaths at McCormick Place dropped by as much as 95%.
“We didn’t know what we were going to do [at first], we just knew we needed to do something,” Clark told WTTW, a Chicago-based news station, “so we’re ecstatic that it’s been such an amazing outcome.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said that the progress is “monumental.”
“McCormick Place Lakeside Center deserves hearty appreciation and recognition for the steps they have taken to drastically reduce bird collisions at their facility,” said Williams.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service applauds the leadership displayed by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority to make their buildings less dangerous for migratory birds. Their efforts will encourage others across the nation to take steps to make glass and lighting safer for migratory birds.”
Header images via Paul Groleau / Feather Friendly & Sayefotograf / Pexels
