Oakland Adds Bird Safety Rules to Building Permit Requirements

The City of Oakland has added a set of of Bird Safety Measures to its building permit requirements — becoming the third major city in North America to adopt such standards, according to an article on the Golden Gate Audubon Society website.

"The new Oakland measures apply to structures that have glass as part of their exterior, and that are next to large bodies of water, parks or green spaces," the article says.

It says that the new regulations require developers to, among other things:

• Avoid the use of mirrors in landscape design.
• Apply bird-friendly glazing to at least 90 percent of windows and glass between the ground and sixty feet above ground. Some positive glazing options include opaque glass, clear glass etched with patterns, and UV-pattern reflective glass (since unlike humans, most birds can see ultraviolet light).
• Turn out nighttime architectural lights and avoid beam lighting during spring and fall migration seasons.
• Install timers or motion sensors on interior lights, so they can be programmed to turn off between 11 p.m. and sunrise.
• Minimize roof antennas and other rooftop structures that create additional collision risks.
• Include bird safety in building management plans. For instance, building managers could ask employees to draw blinds at night during migration season and could schedule nightly maintenance before 11 p.m. to keep buildings dark at night.