Helping birds see the difference: Giving QNC a feather friendly update
Birds play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by providing services such as pest removal, pollination, and seed dispersal.
Unfortunately, window collisions pose a significant threat to migratory birds, with an estimated 16 to 42 million birds dying to window collisions in Canada each year, making it one of the top sources of human-caused bird mortality.
Birds mistake the reflections of vegetation on windows for real objects, leading to most collisions occurring between ground level and the height of the tallest nearby tree.
Funded by the Sustainability Action Fund, the QNC Bird-Window Collision and Monitoring Project aimed to reduce bird mortality on campus, strengthening Waterloo's sustainability efforts and creating a safe space for all species to thrive.
Beginning in May 2026, 20 volunteers from the Society for Environmental Restoration – University of Waterloo (SER-UW) chapter, Bird Friendly Kitchener and Bird Friendly Waterloo worked together to install Feather Friendly decals on the first and second floors of the Northeast side of the Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC) building. QNC was selected because it has been noted as having the highest bird fatality on campus.
Feather Friendly is a Canadian company based out of Mississauga, Ontario. They make bird-collision prevention products such as window decals that are known to reduce bird-window collisions by 95%, making them an effective strategy for mitigating bird mortality on campus.
Dr. Jennifer Clary-Lemon, a professor at the University of Waterloo, and the lead for the project project, highlighted the project’s installation success could not have been done without Plant Operations staff.
There was excellent communication around scheduling, labour, and cleaning before Phase 1 began, which made for an easy two days of installation by volunteers.
Over the next three years, SER-UW will continue to monitor the QNC building for bird-collision fatalities to measure the project’s success.
We all have a responsibility to protect birds from the buildings we study, live, and play in. You can help prevent bird collisions by:
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covering your windows with Feather Friendly decals,
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turning off lights and closing blinds when not in a room,
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keeping houseplants away from windows as they attract birds
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not cleaning windows during bird migratory season (the more reflective the surface, the more dangerous for birds).
If you want to see the QNC Bird-Window Collision and Monitoring project in action, visit QNC next time you are on campus!
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