Making Indoor Plants Safe for Birds

I read with interest your thoroughly researched lead article, “Bringing Nature Indoors”. I would argue, along with others in the bird advocacy world, that plants may do more harm than good inside buildings if they are placed next to transparent glass façades. In the U.S. each year between 100 million and a billion birds are killed by glass.

In New York City Audubon’s

Bird-Safe Building Guidelines, you will find suggested solutions to this problem, including: “minimize the exterior visibility of interior landscaping to reduce its attractiveness to birds” and “research … pattern recognition of both birds and humans to identify patterns that inhibit bird ‘fly-throughs’ while minimally obstructing human views.”

No matter how beautiful the design of interior plantings, humans will derive no pleasure from witnessing birds killed from smacking into glass to reach those plantings.

Marcia Fowle, President

Bird-Safe Glass Foundation

New York, New York