The invisible enemy: Understanding bird-window strikes through citizen science in a focal city
Por:
Uribe-Morfin, Paulina, Gomez-Martinez, Miguel A., Moreles-Abonce, Lilia, Olvera-Arteaga, Anael, Shimada-Beltran, Harumi, MacGregor-Fors, Ian
Publicada:
1 may 2021
Ahead of Print:
1 mar 2021
Categoría:
Ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics
Resumen:
Bird-window collisions have been estimated to be among the most
important sources of bird death. Despite increasing knowledge in Latin
America, our understanding of this phenomenon is still incipient, with
research performed in Mexico limited to a handful of studies. Here, we
present the results of a citizen science effort focused on bird-window
collisions at seven buildings in the university campus of the National
School of Higher Studies (ENES) of the National Autonomous University of
Mexico, located in the city of Leon (central Mexico). Our main goal was
to describe seasonal patterns of bird-window collisions and their
relationship with building traits (i.e., building height, window area)
through citizen science monitoring strategies. Our results showed that
collisions were higher in two of the seven studied buildings, with two
bird species recording almost half of the total collisions: Clay-colored
Sparrow (Spizella pallida) and Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea).
Seasonally, April was the only month to differ from the rest of the
studied months, showing significantly higher rate of bird-window
collision. Regarding building traits, only building height was related
to the number of recorded bird-window collisions. In sum, our study
provides findings from an understudied area, showing the value of
citizen science approaches to generate knowledge on a deadly phenomenon.
Notably, besides the potential drawbacks and importance of generating
this kind of information, our project raised awareness on the topic
across the entire campus community, from the students and academics to
the administration, highlighting the potential for social impact with
these kinds of projects.
Filiaciones:
Uribe-Morfin, Paulina:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, ENES Unidad Leon, Desarrollo & Gest Intercultur, Guanajuato, Mexico
Gomez-Martinez, Miguel A.:
Univ Veracruzana, Inst Biotecnol & Ecol Aplicada INBIOTECA, Costa Verde, Veracruz, Mexico
Moreles-Abonce, Lilia:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, ENES Unidad Leon, Desarrollo & Gest Intercultur, Guanajuato, Mexico
Olvera-Arteaga, Anael:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, ENES Unidad Leon, Desarrollo & Gest Intercultur, Guanajuato, Mexico
Shimada-Beltran, Harumi:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, ENES Unidad Leon, Ciencias Agrogen, Guanajuato, Mexico
MacGregor-Fors, Ian:
Inst Ecol AC INECOL, Red Ambiente & Sustentabilidad, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
Univ Helsinki, Fac Biol & Environm Sci, Ecosyst & Environm Res Programme, Niemenkatu 73, FI-15140 Lahti, Finland
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