In the October issue, Canadian Architect published the winners of the RAIC?s annual awards, including Emerging Architectural Practice winner UUfie. While this young firm?s accomplishments are admirable, their Lake Cottage caught my eye for another reason: it looks like a death trap for birds. The cottage?s outdoor porch features a mirrored ceiling and walls that reflect the surrounding forest. Unfortunately, for birds, reflective surfaces (and even plain glass) can cause sudden death.
Birds do not understand the concept of glass. They see landscape reflected in windows and mirrored building exteriors, and mistake them for safe passage. Though millions of birds collide with buildings in urban areas each year in Canada, most collisions are with houses. Many of these collisions occur on windows on homes in wooded areas and in locations near bodies of water, where migrating birds travel. The journal Science recently reported that nearly 30 percent of all birds (that is, 3 billion birds) have disappeared since the 1970s. This loss includes some birds we take for granted?backyard regulars like blue jays?as well as migrating songbirds such as warblers, kinglets, and ovenbirds. Loss of habitat and dramatic changes in weather contribute to declining populations, but losses caused by the built environment are startlingly high, and they are not necessary. Across North America, the number of migrating birds killed annually in collisions with buildings is estimated to be 699 million....