Barn Swallow | Pauliina Saarinen | Audubon Photography Awards 

by Joshua Morris, Conservation Director

Swallows, swifts, flycatchers, and nightjars are aerial insectivores—birds that hunt insects on the wing. These birds have been identified as species of concern due to steeply declining populations across North America in recent decades.  

Tough data to swallow

Our local aerial insectivores appear to be declining, too. Thanks to the data collected by hundreds of Birds Connect Seattle community volunteers from 2005 to 2023, we’ve been able to analyze trends from the Neighborhood Bird Project counts for 115 species. Among landbirds, counts of aerial insectivores declined fastest, at an average rate of 7.3% per year, with nine out of ten species showing negative trends.

Cliff Swallows fared the worst. Counts fell by 20% annually, for a cumulative decline of 98% since 2005. Barn Swallow and Vaux’s Swift also declined precipitously at 95% and 91%, respectively. 

OSFL = Olive-sided Flycatcher;
WEWP = Western Wood-pewee;
NRWS = Northern Rough-winged Swallow;
WIFL = Willow Flycatcher;
TRES = Tree Swallow;
VGSW = Violet-green Swallow;
VASW = Vaux’s Swift;
BARS = Barn Swallow;
CLSW = Cliff Swallow

What is behind the sharp declines?

Pesticide use may be driving declines, either through direct ingestion or by depleting the insect prey base. Reducing pesticide use at homes, gardens, and greenspaces is an important way to help these species. Pet owners should be aware that many topical flea and tick medications are neonicotinoid-based and can enter the environment when animals go outside or are washed. Choosing food grown without pesticides also makes a difference. This extends to birdseed, much of which is grown with intensive pesticide use. 

Habitat loss, including loss of nesting sites, is another driver. Modern buildings are often designed without eaves, with bird exclusion purposely in mind. This can reduce local nesting opportunities for species like Barn Swallows. If aerial insectivores are nesting on your building, consider yourself lucky and do what you can to protect them. 

One species is bucking the trend

The one bright spot is the Western Flycatcher, counts of which have grown exponentially along nearly every forested NBP survey loop in recent years, with overall counts up 572%. Why this species booms while close relatives like Western Wood-pewee or Olive-sided Flycatcher bust isn’t entirely clear. Western Flycatchers make a shorter migration and favor shaded interior forests, so fewer threats along the way, maturing forest at NBP sites, or both may help explain their success. 

WEFL = Western Flycatcher

The only aerial insectivore species analyzed that had upward population trends.

Photo by Jason C Scoggins, Audubon Photo Awards

Why this matters

Local, long-term community science like the Neighborhood Bird Project turns observations into insight. By comparing our regional trends with broader North American datasets, we can see where Seattle’s birds mirror national declines, and where they diverge. This clarity is essential for scientists and conservationists to understand which species are in trouble so we can prioritize habitat protection, reduce harmful practices, or mobilize community action in time. Neighborhood Bird Project data ensures we’re not guessing—it gives us the evidence needed to protect vulnerable species before declines become irreversible.

Anna’s Hummingbird | Kevin Rees | Audubon Photography Awards 

If you’ve ever watched a chickadee dart in for a sunflower seed or a hummingbird hover at your feeder, you’ve experienced one of the simplest joys of connecting with nature. Feeding birds is one of the most popular ways people engage with wildlife. But as bird populations face global decline, many are asking: Is feeding birds helping or harming them?

The truth is nuanced. Decades of research show that feeding birds has mixed impacts. Some of these impacts are positive, some negative, and many depend on the species, location, and timing.

Black-capped Chickadee | Kelli Westfal | Audubon Photography Awards

On the positive side, birds with access to feeders often show better health, stronger body condition, and improved breeding success. Feeder-watching also fuels large-scale community science projects like Project FeederWatch, which has expanded our understanding of bird ecology across North America.

Yet, there are risks. Disease transmission increases when birds congregate at feeders, and improper feeder hygiene can spread illnesses such as salmonellosis or conjunctivitis. Feeders can also increase the risk of a bird-window collision and attract predators or rodents. In some cases, feeding may even shift migration patterns or change which species dominate a local ecosystem.

In short: feeding changes bird behavior and ecology in complex ways.

House Sparrow and European Starling | Bevi Chagnon | Audubon Photography Awards

The Impacts You Don’t See: Where Bird Seed Comes From

Feeding doesn’t just affect the birds in your backyard. Many popular feed ingredients, like sunflower seeds and corn, are grown using neonicotinoid pesticides (insecticides that are highly toxic to pollinators) and chemical bird deterrents that harm wild bird populations far from our homes. These chemicals are linked to declines in insect-eating bird species because they decimate their natural food sources. Choosing pesticide-free or ethically grown bird seed is one way we can help reduce this impact.

Dark-eyed Junco | Dori Eldridge | Audubon Photography Awards

Why We Still Feed: Connection and Conservation

Despite the complexity, feeding birds remains one of the most accessible and enjoyable ways for people to connect with birds. During the pandemic, interest in bird feeding soared. Watching bird behavior provides comfort, wonder, and a sense of stewardship that can inspire lifelong conservation habits. For many communities, especially those with limited access to green spaces, bird feeders offer a window into the natural world that might otherwise remain out of reach.

Rufous Hummingbird | Chase Weinholtz | Audubon Photography Awards

How You Can Feed Birds Responsibly

If you make the choice to feed birds, please do so in a way that keeps our feathered friends safe. Here are some simple guidelines you can follow at home:

• Keep feeders clean: Wash them regularly to prevent disease transmission and remove moldy, wet, and spoiled seed.
• Clean up under feeders daily: Prevent rodent attraction and seed spoilage.
• Keep cats indoors: Outdoor, free-ranging cats are the number one cause of direct, human-related bird mortality in North America.
• Place feeders at safe distances from windows: Keep them close to windows (within 3 feet), or far from windows (more than 30 feet) to reduce bird-window collisions.
• Use native plants: Supplement feeders with shrubs and trees that provide natural food sources.
• Buy ethical seed: Look for pesticide-free, bird-safe, or locally sourced options.

Feeding birds isn’t just about watching wildlife, it’s about caring for it. By feeding responsibly, we can ensure this beloved tradition continues to bring joy without harming the birds we cherish.

CBC | Toby Ross 

by Hanae Bettencourt, Community Engagement Manager

CBC | Doug Plumber

CBC, Birds Connect Seattle Nextgen Council

Birders at Magnuson Park | Sarah Hankins | Birds Connect Seattle

by Joshua Morris, Conservation Director

Multiple recent assessments, including The State of the Birds 2025, have documented troubling declines in North American bird populations. But how are birds faring here in Seattle? 

Thanks to the long-term commitment of Neighborhood Bird Project (NBP) volunteers, we have a unique dataset to help answer that question. Over the past three decades, hundreds of volunteers have conducted more than 24,000 surveys, counting nearly half a million birds at Seattle-area greenspaces. 

Greenspaces with ongoing monthly Neighborhood Bird Project surveys include:

• Lyon Creek Waterfront Preserve
• Carkeek Park
• Golden Gardens
• Magnuson Park
• Discovery Park
• Washington Park Arboretum
• Cheasty Greenspace
• Genesee Park
• Seward Park
• Lincoln Park

The Birds Connect Seattle Science and Conservation Committees have been analyzing this dataset for insights into local bird occurrence dynamics. In one analysis, we modeled count trends for 112 species observed from 2005 to 2023. Preliminary results suggest that counts are declining for 61 species (54.5%) and stable or increasing for 51 species (45.5%).

We see steep declines in both native and non-native species. Among non-natives, House Sparrows and European Starlings declined by 24% and 12% per year, respectively. Counts for native aerial insectivores like Cliff Swallows, Barn Swallows, and Vaux’s Swifts all declined by an average of 13% per year. Species with increasing counts are all native to Western Washington, including Common Ravens (+32% per year), Purple Finches (+22% per year), and Dark-eyed Juncos (+15% per year). 

We must interpret these results cautiously. Many unmeasured and uncontrolled factors can influence counts, including observer ability, weather, human activity, and habitat changes. We are continuing to review our results and refine our approach and expect to publish a full report this summer. 

This article was originally published in our Summer 2025 issue of EarthCare Northwest, our quarterly member print newsletter. Click here to read the full issue online.

Ser Anderson shows volunteer how to look at windows to find signs of a bird-window collision. 

by Ser Anderson, Urban Conservation Educator

My name is Ser (they/them) and I’m an AmeriCorps member serving as the Urban Conservation Educator with Birds Connect Seattle. This is my second term with Birds Connect and over the last year, I have spent a lot of time coordinating the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project, a community science project designed to improve our understanding of how many bird-window collisions occur in the greater Seattle area and where collisions occur, to engage people with the issue of bird-window collisions and to prevent future collisions.

The issue of bird window collisions is a serious one, but it doesn’t get a lot of attention. As many as two billion birds die in window collisions every year in the U.S. alone. Birds can’t see clear glass and they can’t distinguish reflected trees or other habitat elements from real trees or sky, but there are some relatively straight-forward things individuals can do to make their windows more visible to birds. To make glass visible to birds, people can put some type of marking on the outside surface of their windows, spaced no more than two inches apart, to interrupt the reflection for even the smallest birds. There are lots of different options for how to make these markings, everything from multiple types of commercially available decals and tapes to DIY art projects for kids or adults.

This fall, I created and led a workshop to provide individuals an opportunity to design their own window collision deterrent art, which they would be able to replicate on as many windows around their house as they want with a small investment in white oil-based markers and a moderate investment of time and energy. I led this workshop for the first time at the Rainier Beach Youth Conference and learned a lot from that experience. The hour we had together ended way too soon and none of the designs were completed, but all the participants left with the beginnings of a design and information on how to proceed to use their design to protect birds from window collisions at their homes.

I’m looking forward to offering the workshop again in the spring, using what I learned from the first one to improve future workshops and ensure that I have assembled enough materials that the workshop will be replicable by others, potentially future AmeriCorps members serving with Birds Connect Seattle or other people involved in bird collision monitoring and prevention across the country. I really enjoyed the opportunity to combine conservation with art to produce practical tools to address and raise awareness about bird-window collisions. It was an empowering experience to be able to develop a new workshop for Birds Connect Seattle from the intersection of a conservation need and my own interests.

My AmeriCorps service is helping me develop the confidence to learn about what the world needs and find ways to put my passion, interests, and skills to work to help address those needs. I’m excited to continue this process throughout the rest of my service term.

Join Ser at an upcoming workshop to learn how to create your own collision deterrent art. 

Ser trains Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project volunteers on what to do if they encounter a dead or injured bird during their volunteer service. 

A portion of SAAM’s remodel and expansion with large reflective windows that overlook and reflect surrounding trees and sky. These conditions make it hard for birds to see the glass—resulting in bird-window collisions.

Seattle Asian Art Museum is testing collision-deterrent options to save birds.

The recent expansion of the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park has introduced a stunning new architectural feature: expansive glass windows that flood the gallery with natural light and create a harmonious blend with the surrounding greenery. However, this beautiful design has inadvertently led to a troubling issue—an increase in bird collisions and mortality. 

Birds Connect Seattle is working with SAAM to address this problem. The museum’s large, reflective windows, which mirror the surrounding trees and sky, have created a hazardous environment for birds, making the glass nearly invisible to them and leading to frequent collisions. 

In response, Birds Connect Seattle compiled a report detailing the specific windows involved, the species affected, and overall mortality estimates. We also provided SAAM with several cost-effective collision deterrent solutions. 

Upon receiving our report, SAAM’s directors promptly acknowledged the issue and began the process of addressing it. Their swift response and commitment to wildlife conservation are commendable. The museum is currently testing four different collision deterrent options with the intention to install a permanent solution in the near future. 

This proactive approach underscores the impact of combining volunteer data with effective advocacy to protect wildlife. Thanks to our volunteers and advocates, hundreds of future bird deaths will be prevented. As migration seasons pose ongoing risks, timely action and installation of collision deterrents remain crucial. 

Let’s Make Seattle Bird-Safe 

While individual building solutions are important, broader policy change is essential for widespread impact. For nearly five years, we’ve been advocating for comprehensive bird-safe building policies in Seattle. It’s time for Seattle to join cities like NYC, Portland, and Vancouver in prioritizing bird safety in building regulations. 

Related News and Stories

Townsend’s Warbler found during a Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project survey.

Early Estimate of Spring and Fall Bird-window Collision Mortality from the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project

You may have heard the heart-breaking statistic that more than one billion birds die each year in the United States after colliding with glass. Seattle’s birds are among the victims of this environmental catastrophe. In 2020, Birds Connect Seattle launched Bird-Safe Seattle  and the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project to improve our understanding of the the issue and and inspire action to prevent collisions. 

Since the fall of 2021, nearly 200 Birds Connect Seattle volunteers have spent more than 900 hours monitoring commercial, institutional, and residential structures for evidence of bird-window collisions. Sometimes the evidence is as obvious as a dead bird laying under right under a window. But often the signs are more subtle: a smear of blood on a window or a feather pile in the bushes (scavengers often find carcasses before we do). 

Thanks to careful searching of Birds Connect Seattle volunteers, the toll collisions have on our local birds is becoming clear.

Our analyses suggest that collisions with windows kill nearly 30,000 birds at residential and institutional buildings during peak spring and fall migration periods. The models estimate that 19,000 of these are immediate fatalities, with an additional 9,000 deaths possible from collision-related injuries that are not immediately fatal.  Please note that our dataset is still maturing. The models and our confidence in the estimate will improve as we continue collecting data. 

That said, we expect the actual annual death toll to be much higher. This analysis only estimated mortality at institutional and residential structures during a small portion of the year. We know that collisions occur at all types of buildings, from skyscrapers to offices to detached homes, condominium complexes, hospitals, greenhouses, and more. But since our survey data is mostly limited to residential structures and buildings on educational campuses, we conservatively assumed that only these structure types experience collisions.  We also restricted our analysis to just peak migration seasons. We know that collisions occur year-round, but surveys completed in summer and winter still represent a small fraction of our dataset, so we have did not include them in the analysis. We expect, too, that the estimate for fall mortality at residential structures will increase and the estimate for spring will decrease as we collect more surveys. 

Dark-eyed Junco after colliding with a window | Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project

What species do we find most commonly? 

Nearly half of the collision evidence we encounter we cannot confidently attribute to any particular species (e.g., dust print, blood smear, non-descript body feathers). For those we can identify, thrushes are the most common casualty, represting 18% of collisions documented by the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project in Seattle proper. Sparrows and warblers are also fairly common, each representing 10% of documented collisions. 

How do collisions in Seattle compare to other cities?

Unfortunately, an answer here isn’t readily available. Only New York City has an annual mortality estimate, reporting between 90,000-230,000 migratory birds are killed each year by collisions with buildings. That situates our estimate fairly reasonably, as NYC is a much larger city than Seattle by area and with higher structural and migration densities.

What does this mean?

Thanks to our Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring volunteers, bird-window collisions are now a well documented phenomenon in Seattle with a quantifiable impact on our local birds. The scale of the impact—nearly 30,000 mortalities just during migration periods—demands action. We all have a role to play in reducing collision risk to birds in our neighborhoods. See our tips for preventing collisions here, but importantly, we need to regulate this issue. We will not be a sustainable city until our homes and businesses stop killing wildlife. Please contact your elected officials right now and tell them we need bird-safe building standards, as so many other cities already have.

Take Action Now  

We want to join other large urban areas like New York City, Portland, and Vancouver BC by passing bird-safe building policy. You can help us advocate for city-wide solutions to bird-window collisions. 

Donate 

You can fuel science-informed local conservation with your gift today. Your support can help save a bird from a deadly window collision.  

Related Stories

Young Birders birding together at the annual Wenas Audubon CampOut. | Ser Anderson

Young Birders is Birds Connect Seattle’s group for youth interested in birding, comprised of teens aged 13-18 years old. Each month they come together for meetings, field experiences, community science, and more. For more on the program, visit our webpage and keep reading for a glimpse of May’s field experience at the annual Wenas CampOut.

Young Birders and other community members at  the Wenas CampOut. | Ser Anderson

Each year, Washington State’s Audubon chapters and friends come together on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains at Wenas Valley for the annual Wenas Audubon CampOut. Here, participants engage in a variety of different activities, including birding, wildflower walks, field sketching, presentations, and more.

Young Birders observe a small reptile. | Ser Anderson

In late May, five Young Birders (plus 2 parents) attended the annual Wenas CampOut. While at the CampOut, they enjoyed exploring the less familiar habitats of the eastern slope of the Cascades. These habitats include sagebrush and ponderosa pine forests that support a wide variety of flora and fauna. While birding from the early hours of the morning until after dark, Young Birders observed White-head Woodpeckers, lots of bluebirds, Black-headed Grosbeaks, a Peregrine Falcon, and a Common Poorwill, as well as a Pygmy Short-horned Lizard and a couple scorpions.

Two Young Birders look around by a fallen log. | Ser Anderson

One Young Birder said that they “loved the campout,” others stated that their favorite parts of the Young Birders program included field experiences, having fun birding together, community science, bird surveys, and “learning more about birding and meeting other birders.” Learn more about our Young Birders program.

Young Birders at the Wenas CampOut. | Ser Anderson

Birds Connect Seattle offers a number of youth environmental education programs, connecting children and teens to the wonder of nature and opportunities to get involved in local conservation efforts. Youth programs are made possible through the generosity of donors like you. 

Explore More Stories from Birds Connect Seattle

Raccoon caught scavenging an American Crow carcass during a carcass persistence study | Birds Connect Seattle

by Joshua Morris, Urban Conservation Manager

Have you ever wondered where birds go when they die?

It’s a reasonable question. We live our lives alongside thousands of birds that inevitably go the way of all flesh. Especially in cities, where they run a gauntlet of human-related hazards—pollution, pesticides, traffic…just the windows on our buildings are estimated to kill more than a billion birds per year in the US.

Brown Creeper after a suspected window collision | Birds Connect Seattle

So why do we not notice the dead birds that must be all around us? 

One important reason is the amazing and efficient community of scavengers we also live alongside. In cities, where French fries grow on sidewalks and take-out containers flow from trash cans, scavenging as a feeding strategy can be particularly effective. Some of our most familiar urban wildlife are scavengers: raccoons, squirrels, crows, gulls, and rats, for example. 

The diets of our urban scavengers are supplemented by the large number of birds that fatally collide with windows. Anecdotally we’ve heard of crows that wait around glassy buildings or that seemingly drive songbirds into windows as part of their hunting strategy. But how important of a food source could window collisions be?

I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation to estimate the possible contribution of bird-window collisions to the diets of our local slugs, snails, crows, and raccoons: assuming a conservative average body mass of 20 grams per bird-window collisions victim (about the size of a Song Sparrow) and 100,000 fatal events in Seattle per year (also a conservative estimate based on early results from the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project), that’s a protein infusion of 2.2 tons, enough to satisfy 100 crows for an entire year (assuming they’d be content with 50 grams per day).  

Birds Connect Seattle studies carcass persistence as part of the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project. We do this because estimating the number of fatal collisions that occur around the buildings we study requires us to estimate the probability that we find a carcass before a scavenger does.  

To study carcass persistence, we place a trial carcass, usually one we salvaged from through our collision monitoring project, around a building and observe how long it remains in place. Last spring we started using camera traps in our carcass persistence studies. Not only does this save us the trouble of checking each trial carcass multiple times per day, it also gives us greater precision in our estimates of persistence and allows us to identify which scavengers are taking advantage of the collision buffet.   

Here is some of the footage we’ve captured so far: 

This research provides a glimpse into the world of urban scavengers that we don’t often get to see. After a bit more data collection, we’ll be able to test if scavenging rates differ between times of day or season. This will help improve our estimates on collision mortality locally and help us build our case for why we should all take preventing bird-window collisions seriously as a conservation concern. 

About Joshua Morris

Josh is Birds Connect Seattle’s Urban Conservation Manager. His work focuses on reducing urban hazards to birds, protecting and enhancing urban habitat, and engaging communities in conservation right in their own neighborhoods. Josh leads the Bird-safe Seattle project focused on understanding and preventing bird-window collisions.

Ethics statement: Carcasses salvaged via the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project and used in carcass persistence studies are permitted under US Fish and Wildlife Service Salvage Permit MBPER0031885 and Washington State Scientific Collection Permit MORRIS 23-312. 

Explore other articles in this issue of EarthCare Northwest

Sink Your Beak into This 

Over millions of years, birds have adapted their anatomy to their unique ecological niche, in part due to the food sources available to them. In this article, we explore the specialized beaks of several local bird species and how that helps them snag their favorite snacks. 

Read more.

Barred Owl Diet: Insights from Pellet Analysis in Seattle 

University of Washington student researcher Olivia Cavalluzzi spent her summer analyzing nearly 600 Barred Owl pellets to uncover interesting insights into their diet, behavior, and role within the Seattle-area food chain. 

Read more.

Bird Feeding 101: Suet 

Feeding wild birds is one way to attract a variety of species to your balcony, yard, or window. If you are new to feeding birds, seed and nectar feeders are common choices, but suet feeders can be a wonderful alternative or supplement. 

Read more.