Advances in Window Safety Come to the Cornell Lab and Cornell Campus [Video]

Updated June 2024; originally published September 2022.

Every year, up to one billion birds die from window strikes in the U.S, species of all sizes brought down by the invisible tragedy of glass. A growing body of research surrounding the severity of window collisions—and ways to avoid them—has resulted in more organizations moving toward bird-friendly buildings, including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Constructed in 2002, the Lab’s home in Sapsucker Woods was designed to harmonize with the landscape and allow visitors to immerse themselves in the world of birds. Its two-story structure, built with natural materials like cedar and stone, is inconspicuously set beneath the treeline of the surrounding 220-acre sanctuary. Overlooking the pond and feeder garden is a tall, glass-fronted observatory, which features an 84-foot-wide, two-story expanse of windows.