Join the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project for Spring 2024

Dark-eyed Juncos (photos by Carole and Jim Kitchell and Boe Baty )

Are you looking for a volunteer opportunity to give back to birds?

Collisions with windows kill thousands of birds each year in Seattle. A new study on bird-window collision evidence and the angle of strike of bird window collisions suggests that rather than one billion birds killed by window strikes annually in the US, the real number is closer to two billion, with potentially billions more killed worldwide. Birds need your help to stop these unnecessary deaths. Join the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project to help us document and understand bird-window collisions so that we may prevent them.

The spring 2024 monitoring season runs from April 15–May 29. We’d love to have you join us!

What are the volunteer commitments?

There are two ways to participate: at home or on site along a study route in Capitol Hill, First Hill, Columbia City or at two transit stations. The two options require different volunteer commitments.

At-home Volunteers

Location: Your home or building
Total time commitment: 3-5 hours
This a big need for the project and the easiest way to get involved. We had around 70 at-home volunteers participate in the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project this winter and we would like to have 40-60 volunteers monitoring at home this season. The vast majority of buildings in Seattle are residential. Understanding collisions at homes and apartment buildings is critical for our understanding of collisions across the city. At-home volunteers only need to commit to one week of daily monitoring surveys around their home or building, though we are happy to have volunteers complete multiple weeks of monitoring surveys. The week of surveys may occur anytime within the April 15–May 29 monitoring season. Total volunteer time, including attending virtual trainings, is approximately three to five hours, depending on how long it takes to monitor at your building.

Note: even if you’ve never had a bird-window collision at your home, please join! Understanding where collisions do not occur is just as important as understanding where they do.

Study Route Volunteers

Location: Capitol Hill, First Hill, Columbia City or Transit Stations
Total time commitment: 20 hours
Join a team of other volunteers to monitor a set of pre-selected study buildings along study routes in Capitol Hill (1 building), First Hill (3-5 buildings), Colombia City (8 half blocks/buildings), or at two Transit Stations (1-2 buildings). Study buildings will include the Seattle Asian Art Museum (Capitol Hill route), buildings on the Seattle University campus (First Hill route), commercial buildings in downtown Columbia City (Columbia City route) and the Tukwila light rail station (Transit Station route). Volunteers assigned to these routes commit to a once-per-week monitoring shift throughout the April 15–May 29 monitoring season. We encourage volunteers to complete surveys in the morning, but exact timing is flexible. Total volunteer time, including attending trainings, is approximately 20 hours.

How does it work?

Ready to join? Here are your next steps

1. Click here to express your interest and we’ll be in touch.
2. Attend the Virtual Volunteer Information Session on Thursday, March 21, from 6:00-7:00 pm (on Zoom).
3. If the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project still feels like a good fit, sign up to volunteer and provide information about the type of monitoring you want to do, your availability and your route preference (if applicable).
4. Attend the Virtual Volunteer Orientation and At-Home Monitor Training on Thursday, April 4, from 6:00-7:30 pm (on Zoom).
5. If applicable, attend an in-person Study Route Training (on site at study routes, exact locations, dates and times TBD).
6. Monitor for bird-window collisions during the spring 2024 Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project season, April 15-May 29!

Still have questions?

Click here to watch the volunteer information session from fall 2023 or email our urban conservation educator.

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