Bird Mortality Tally Exceeds 800 on UNL Campus Environs

By James E. Ducey

A carcass of a Northern Flicker found at the Architecture Hall link became one of the latest records in the tally of bird mortality at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln environs in Lincoln.

The yellow-shafted flicker was record 800. Added afterwards were two Orange-crowned Warblers, also at this building, one having been thrown away into the foliage by workers, lying just a couple of feet from the spotted woodpecker. A flock of several of these warblers were present at the southern Cather Garden during the morning's foray.

With the first arrival of a small flock of foraging Dark-eyed Juncos, a carcass was then expectedly found, at the southwest area of the link at Architecture Hall. A freshly dead Lincoln's Sparrow lay near the eastern doors through the glass walls of Sheldon Art Gallery.

Birds were twice seen bouncing off the tall windows - with interior lights - on the east side of Memorial Stadium, as night waned.

Each instance of mortality found, was due to the bird in flight striking a glass surface of an exterior building wall.

Six specimens noted Sunday, 23 September were the Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, House Wren, Lincoln's Sparrow, Mourning Dove, and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Overall, there are 804 known examples of bird mortality for city campus and east campus. Of these, 797 records are for species protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The species noted the most thus far in 2007, are the Common Grackle (9 carcasses), Common Yellowthroat (5), Lincoln's Sparrow (5) and American Robin (4).

The 58 records thus far in 2007 is comparable to the total number of records from 1991-1993. There are 107 records from 1995 and 107 in 2001.

The species most often afflicted by building dangers - considering all the carcasses noted since 1969 by many bird watchers - are:

Lincoln's Sparrow ~ 67 examples

Orange-crowned Warbler ~ 53

Dark-eyed Junco ~ 51

White-throated Sparrow ~ 48

American Robin ~ 41

Common Grackle ~ 37

Clay-colored Sparrow ~ 31

Common Yellowthroat ~ 27

Nashville Warbler ~ 27

Swainson's Thrush ~ 26

The last known flicker mortality was in 1995. The one species added to the tally list thus far in 2007, has been the Sora.

The most dangerous structure is the glassy Cather-Pound-Neihardt passageway, where 232 window strikes have been noted during research into the impact of building features on migratory wildbirds. There have been 144 at Sheldon Art Gallery, which is a threat partially due to the lighting features. There is a similar number for Oldfather Hall and its passageways. Architecture Hall and its link have more than 50 instances. More than 30 other structures are among the others that have hazards for birds. For many of the records, there was no locale given for the origin of the museum specimen.

There have been 58 species present about city campus from late winter through summer, and into the current days of first autumn. Overall there are at least 102 bird species that have been observed among the buildings and landscaping.

Two Clay-colored Sparrows were found in early evening Wednesday, at the south side, west windows of the Architecture Hall Link.