Bird Collision Prevention Window Treatment Installed

Door Creek Park pavilion received a new feature this week! Thanks to Ellie Meng of Girl Scout Troop #7889, in collaboration with Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance (SoWBA) and Madison Parks, a window treatment was applied to prevent birds from colliding with glass.

Meng first connected with Brenna Marsicek, SoWBA's director of outreach and coordinator for the Bird Collision Corps (BCC) program, in April 2025. As part of her Girl Scout Gold Award Project, Meng has been monitoring sites with BCC and encouraging plans for window treatments. She was directly involved in collaborating with the Dane County Humane Society's team to help install treatments beginning in summer 2025.

BCC is a Madison-based, volunteer-supported community science program that began in 2018 to study the factors that lead to bird deaths caused by window strikes. The data gathered by the program has influenced bird-safe glass ordinances in both Madison and Middleton.

Door Creek Park's pavilion opened in summer 2025 and features floor-to-ceiling windows on the north and south side of the building and was added as a BCC monitoring site in spring 2026. BCC volunteers found a disproportionately high number of collisions, likely because of the arrangement of windows and the excellent bird habitat nearby. Upon learning about this conflict, the Madison Parks Division was eager to take action.

To support the new window treatments installation, Meng and her troop contributed $800 to cover half of the cost of the treatment, with Madison Parks covering the remaining amount. SoWBA coordinated the installation process the week of August 3. The window treatment selected has shown to reduce collisions by 95% in most cases.

The Door Creek Park pavilion will be monitored this fall to assess the effectiveness of the window treatment. The next season of Bird Collision Corps will run from September 1 through October 31. Visit Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, for more information about the project or to volunteer.