Bird-Window Strike Number 2000 at Omaha

An itty-bitty female warbler has the dubious distinction of being record number 2000 for the known bird-window strikes in eastern Omaha. Her carcass was obvious on the concrete on the west side of the CenturyLink Center Omaha, early on the morning of May 29th, a Friday, when the fatality was discovered. It was very early in the morning when seen, because the staff of the place operated by the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority are also about early in their ongoing effort to throw birds into the trash. Their manner of the men dealing with bird deaths, and otherwise, notably at the west facade of the building, is pathetic as they have been seen picking up dead birds and throwing them into a trash container. Pick it up, throw it into the bucket and move along is their method. Their action conveys no respect and no proper consideration for what was once a vibrant bird life until the mix of vegetation and glass at the dangerous facility which is a known and ongoing threat to migratory birds. On this particular Friday morning, there were two more instances of bird deaths at the CenturyLink Center Omaha. Two juvenile grackles trying to learn their way in the urban world of east Omaha, also smacked into the glass facade and died. Elsewhere along the mourning's way, there was a dead Tennessee Warbler on the south side of the Union Pacific Center. A juvenile American Robin was dealt with on the west side of the Zorinsky Federal building, further along. These records are the result of 555 surveys of record, primarily done via bicycle along a route of about 13.2 miles, or more than 7,000 miles of pedaling. The Qwest/CenturyLink Center Omaha is the most hazardous building in the river city, with a tally of at least 658 records associated with bird window-strikes, and the tally is 73 species. Each bird death is a tragedy. Each bird death is a travesty. Each bird which dies due to a blasting contact with a glass pane is one more insult to the wild birds. At the CenturyLink Center Omaha, they spend thousands of dollars, according to news reports, and the results are nothing more than worthless, because of the vegetation to the west of the west facade and the lack of inhibitory decals on the lower portion of the glass. MECA spends a lot of money worthlessly since the placement of decals is not where it should be to deter bird-window strikes.

The yellowthroat carcass at CenturyLink Center Omaha, bird window-strike instance number 2000.

MECA Staff Possess and Dispose of Wildbirds

During recent weeks of surveys to determine the extent of birds hitting glass facades in downtown Omaha, there seemed to be a dearth of bird carcasses associated with the CenturyLink Center Omaha. Typically there are one or more carcasses or disabled birds found on a regular basis.

The reason there were have been no carcasses was finally determined, and was — as expected — because of staff working for the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority. Morning's when they do their rounds to clean up trash, they also include bird carcasses. The dead birds are picked up and placed in a bucket on their cart as they continue along their route.

The morning of May 26th, upon approaching the north portion of the west facade of the center, one of two MECA workers was seen using "trash tongs" to pickup two bird carcasses and then place them into the bucket on their cart. Coming up to the cart, the worker was asked: "What kind of birds are those?" The response: "Yellow ones," confirms that the worker knew he was handling birds. Being nearly adjacent to the cart, a quick stop was made and the two carcasses were removed from the plastic bucket. They were two female Common Yellowthroats. Both carcasses were then suitably disposed of in a manner of respect for their natural origin, rather than being dealt with like a discarded styrofoam cup or errant piece of trash. The manner in which the MECA workers dealt with the birds killed at their facility is a crass manner of suitably dealing with the deadly tragedies, and shows a complete lack of respect for formerly vibrant wildbirds.

It is not known how the MECA staff deal with temporarily disabled birds which strike the western, glass facade of the facility. Are the staff workers aware enough or do they take the time to determine if a bird is alive but stunned, or is it treated as if dead. Disabled birds are often in a position similar to a carcass, as they try to recover to an extent where they can fly away. Grasping a bird with trash tongs may also be enough to kill it.

Numerous bird window strikes continue at the CenturyLink Center Omaha, despite the many decals placed upon the upper portion of the glass has not been efficiently effective in reducing the number of bird strikes, based upon findings last year.

There were four violations of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act by MECA in association with the situation observed Tuesday morning, about 6:30 a.m. Each death of two warblers was a taking action. By picking up the carcasses and carrying them around in a plastic bucket, the workers had "possession" of the birds. It is illegal to possess birds without a permit.

This is just one instance of this sort of activity, as the MECA workers certainly have undertaken similar activity on multiple other days this spring, and during past times.

This situation was referred to law enforcement staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by other agency personnel.

There was apparently nothing done about this ongoing disposal of dead birds by MECA employees. Just as expected based upon the lack of action by the F.W.S.

Tragedy of Two Birds at CenturyLink Center Omaha

An urban mix of a frantic pigeon, a hungry hawk and the glass facade of a building was vividly indicated by the outcome of their encounter.

There are dozens of Rock Pigeons that occur about the CenturyLink Center Omaha in north downtown. They can be seen flying about on a regular basis, or sitting about someplace they prefer there, every day by someone that cares to take a look.

The many fat pigeons attracted a hungry Cooper's Hawk on Friday, October 24th.

Those pigeons of downtown Omaha have attracted a Cooper's Hawk on more than one occasion prior to this event.

Once the juvenile hawk selected its prey, a chase ensued, with the frantic pigeon in a quick flight along the west wall of the building, as it seeked an escape. When the pigeon darted into what appeared to be a route to safe haven, the hawk followed. The choice by the first bird led to its death when it whacked into the lower extent of glass on the west side of the CenturyLink Center, just south of the convention center entrance. Its pursuer met a similar fate.

The two birds were found next to each other on the southern extent of the west wall of the facility, the results of their encounter obvious when found on Saturday morning. There were two feathery carcasses, not supple, indicating that they had been lying dead upon the concrete for hours before the sunrise visit.

What a tragedy for the young hawk to die in this manner, especially when its death did not have to occur, and would not have happened if the clear glass had been suitably marked and made obvious enough for the keen sight of all avifauna. Both birds would have realized there was an obstruction ahead, and gone a different way.

They did not have this opportunity since the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority -- which manages the Qwest/CenturyLink Center -- has, for years, been indifferent to placing a sufficient number of suitable markings on the glass of the west facade of this building. A few small stickers on the upper portions of the glass are not enough since there have been a multitude of bird deaths documented in detail along this "wall of death" in the past few years.

Before finding the hawk and the pigeon, there were three Savannah Sparrows either disabled or dead a short distance northward on the west side of the center, and they were the first bird-window strikes of another Saturday morning bicycle outing.

The carcasses of the hawk, as well as the sparrows, were disposed of in a suitable manner. And they were not thrown into any trash can as to do so would be a disgrace to the spirit of the winged ones.

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There was a Cooper's Hawk flying about TD Ameritrade Park the morning of October 26th, checking out the juncos and sparrows along Mike Fahey Street.

Bird Strikes Surpass 500 at CenturyLink Center

Sunday morning another tragedy occurred at the most dangerous building for migratory birds at Omaha. An especial Northern Waterthrush was flying southward, and arrived at Omaha, along the Missouri River. There were lights and glass enough to cause confusion. This bit of featherdom hit an expanse of barren glass on the west facade of the CenturyLink Center Omaha, formerly the Qwest Center Omaha.

This was record 501 for this facility. Earlier in the morning two other disabled birds were at the same spot. One was a House Wren and the other some sort of warbler which flew away before it could be observed in detail sufficient for an identification.

There were other subsequent and similar tragedies soon discovered about the city-scape of downtown Omaha. A new building was added to the many other hazardous places, upon finding a Northern Waterthrush by the corner of Hotel Deco at 15th and Harney Streets.

And a short time later while bicycling around while continuing to investigate other bird-strike locales, an anty Mourning Warbler was found on the west side of the Keeline Building, along 17th.

The hawk's antics and presence meant an addition of two more bird-strike records!

Examples of recent bird victims at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.

In subsequent days, additional strike instances have been documented, so the tally is now more than 512!

Omaha's Deadlist Building

The first instance's of bird death's at the Qwest/CenturyLink Center were found on May 8, 2008. There were two dead Clay-colored Sparrows along its west side, which is a huge expanse of reflective glass.

The deadlist year known was in 2012, with 157 known instances, Numbers per year vary because of interest and intent, so there is no grand list which might indicate a precise number. There are also architectural features which inhibit any comprehensive perspective.

Numbers keep increasing, and that is the reality of the situation.

On Monday, September 9th, there were six more records added to the tally. Only one of the warblers was still alive, and carefully removed from the open scene adjacent to the glass. The species impacted were the Mourning Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Tennessee Warbler and Ovenbird.

Hazards persist at the CenturyLink Center Omaha, despite the placement of supposedly deterrent decals onto the upper extent of the windows along the west facade. And the mortality has continued unabated! It's hard to say if anything effective has been done, though there have been efforts. The bottom line: nothing has been effectively done to reduce the number of birds which are dying at the Qwest/CenturyLink Center.

Success of any deterrent measure should be evaluated based upon documented, proven results. The opposite is happening at the CenturyLink Center, which is managed by the troubling board of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority.

A special thanks to Justin Rink for his occasional help in identifying some bird carcasses.

Bird Window-strike Number 1500 in Douglas County

Window-strike number 1500, based upon personally gathered records,was found the morning of May 19, 2013 at the CenturyLink Center Omaha, Douglas County. It was a male Common Yellowthroat at the north-facing entry near the south end of the west side of this building. While processing details of the scene, including the particulars for a disabled waterthrush less than three feet distant, another impact upon the glass was subtly heard and within a couple of moments, there was another stricken yellowthroat. A female yellowthroat landed within 24 inches of where the male bird was lying dead. The second yellowthroat was disabled at the time, so was moved to a safe place to facilitate recovery, and upon checking about 30 minutes later, it was gone, hopefully to a better place? While the waterthrush was also later recovering, and while making its way, it got chased by a predominant American Robin, apparently because the larger bird had its territory and did not want any intruders. The confrontation certainly made recovery more stressful for the waterthrush.

Male Common Yellowthroat fatality at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Disabled Louisiana Waterthrush at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Disabled female Common Yellowthroat at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Elsewhere during the early morning, another yellowthroat mortality was found at the south wall of the Holland Performing Arts Center, just west of the fourth column from the east. It was also a female that had been making its way northward to find a mate, lay some eggs and raise some young. That intent was drastically ended.

There have been 162 known window-strikes associated with the Common Yellowthroat in eastern Omaha. The overall tally of this endeavor indicates that the only species "impacted more" has been the Lincoln's Sparrow, with 165 instances. Next atop the tally is the Purple Martin, with 98, and then the Nashville Warbler with more than 85 instances, if numbers might be of interest?

During the morning outing this disabled Red-eyed Vireo was noted at the Central Park Plaza. The bird subsequently died. Notice how the bird is obviously suffering due to it hitting glass of the north tower.