‘It’s really torturing me’: Calgary naturalist uses ‘Zen curtains’ to stop birds from flying into his windows

Brian Keating’s property is a sanctuary for a variety of animals including beavers, ducks and mink; bird– Very friendly too.

With birds flying in flocks through his backyard in Inglewood, Keating’s heart sank whenever he heard them hitting his windows.

“I get hit by birds all the time and it’s very distressing. I can’t stand it. We have to do something,” said the Calgary naturalist.

Every year, Keating put a new falcon silhouette on the window, but it didn’t work very well.

“You need a pattern that will scatter the reflection off the window, and it has to be fairly close so the birds know they can’t get through it,” Keating said.

So he installed Bird CurtainsKeating bought a roll of parachute cord and tied it to the flashing at the top of the window. Bird-shaped curtains, also called Acopian Bird Savers or Zen Wind Curtains, are available online. Or you can make your own.

“We spent an hour and a half working on each window covering, and we worked on every problematic window in the house. They’re essentially ropes hanging from the front and inside. Your brain eventually tricks you into ignoring them,” Keating said.

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“They’re mesmerizing when you watch them fluttering in the wind, and they give you a certain attraction when you’re indoors. It reminds you that the world is an active world, and air is moving.”

During the five years of patrolling the streets, Calgary City Species Response Team About fifty bird and bat species were found to be commonly associated with car crashes.

Environment Canada estimates that between 16 and 42 million birds are killed each year from bird strikes into buildings.

“Since I started birding at age 14, the total bird population in North America has declined by 30 percent. I think that’s a huge tragedy not only from an aesthetic perspective, but also from an ecological perspective. I can’t imagine waking up and not hearing birdsong. For most people, the value of birding is knowing that the world is vibrant and alive and there are exciting things to do, but there’s also a practical side, which is that birds eat insects,” Keating said.

In the past two years since he installed the bird-proof curtains, Keating knows of only one fatality from a bird collision at his home.

“Watching it from the inside, watching the wind blow them around, puts you in a zen state and makes you feel better because you know you’re not killing birds anymore,” Keating said.

In addition to preventing collisions, Bird Friendly Calgary is encouraging residents and businesses to turn off their lights at night to support migrating birds starting this month.

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