Feather Friendly window markers have made their debut in New Zealand with a large-scale bird collision mitigation project.
On March 18 the Leonard Cockayne Centre and the Wellington City bus shelter were covered with Feather Friendly collision markers to help protect native birds like the kākāriki and kereru. This marked the establishment of the first ever commercial bird safe building in New Zealand.
The joint project, organized by non-profit Urban Wildlife Trust and the Wellington Cable Car, was devised to deter birds from flying into the Wellington Cable Car summit terminal building, which is built in between two significant bird habitats- Wellington Botanic Garden to the north and Zealandia Ecosanctuary to the south.
As often as bird collisions happen in New Zealand, they are still viewed by many as being unavoidable. Urban Wildlife Trust is hoping this innovative initiative demonstrates that these collisions can be prevented.
They also hope this New Zealand first will inspire other residents to take action to mitigate window strike and protect precious native birds from this avoidable human-created problem.
To see the bird conservation project unfold, watch the video below: