And just like that, fifteen years have come and gone! Where does the time go?
We started Feather Friendly® in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario—a city that sits between two major bird migration corridors. Our goal was simple—to develop effective, lasting solutions to the global crisis of bird collisions.
We have certainly come a long way in fifteen years. In addition to numerous projects completed in Canada and the United States, Feather Friendly® markers have been integrated into major projects in China, South Korea, Costa Rica, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, France, Dubai, and the UK, and we continue to expand into new markets every day!
Among these, we are delighted to have been a part of the largest bird-safe building retrofit in North America, the Toronto-Dominion (TD) Centre, a six-building office complex in the heart of Toronto’s Financial District. That's over 105,000 square feet of glass addressed!
Feather Friendly® is, and remains, a solution-oriented company. We have worked alongside building owners, property managers, developers, architects, conservation groups, and homeowners to ensure the best possible outcomes for all parties involved—but especially birds—offering a full range of solutions, including ten stock patterns, custom capabilities, colour options, and more.
Our hometown of Toronto, Ontario was the first city in the world to develop and implement Bird-Friendly Development Guidelines to make buildings less dangerous to local and migratory birds, and the first in North America to earn Nature Canada’s Bird-Friendly City certification. We are delighted to report that many cities in Canada and the United States have since followed suit and implemented guidelines.
Our technology has been developed and refined through research. We have integrated the work of leading scholars into our designs, among them ornithologist Dr. Daniel Klem, Jr. who, for the last thirty years, has been considered the world’s foremost expert on bird collisions (and a cherished friend to our organization!)
Further, our treatments have been tested and approved by the American Bird Conservancy, and are a recommended solution by FLAP Canada and Dr. Klem, Jr. himself!
This is because our bird collision deterrents are designed with durability and longevity in mind. Our products are made from cast vinyl which won’t discolour, shrink, or delaminate in its twelve plus year lifespan, as opposed to calendared vinyl which begins to degrade in three to five. For more information on this point, explore this blog! You can also visit our Case Studies page to see how these projects have held up over the years!
While we have learned immensely from others, we have also had many opportunities to contribute our expertise and advise on policy development. Feather Friendly's Vice President, Paul Groleau was asked to participate alongside industry leaders in glass manufacturing, conservationists, and architects to develop the ground-breaking CSA A460-19 Bird-Friendly Building Design Guideline.
As part of our ongoing education initiatives, Feather Friendly® has sponsored free unlimited access to the guideline, which can be assessed and read into here.!
In short, the Feather Friendly® team has spent the last fifteen years being a part of change. We look forward to continuing to educate and aid conservation efforts while offering a proven solution.
So, if you are in the market for bird collision deterrent markers, you know just who to call!
