Poznań. Balustrades on Berdychowskie Bridges still without security

The Glass Traps Foundation appealed to the President of Poznań to intervene in the Berdychów bridge. According to naturalists and ornithologists, glass railing crossings are a deadly trap for birds that do not recognize the glass as obstacles that need to be bypassed. We asked the city authorities what actions they intend to take.

– Still, when it comes to collisions of birds with windows, this is a topic that is not fully understood by officials and decision -making people. And it is both about the scale of the phenomenon and the need to secure glass objects – says Dr. Ewa Zyśk -Gorczyńska, a natural and ecologist and president of the Glass Traps Foundation.

On February 28, a new investment was opened in Poznań – Berdychowskie Bridges, i.e. a walking and cycling crossing on the Warta and Relief Canal. Even during ongoing work, local ornithologists and naturalists pointed out that glazed balustrades could be a deadly danger to birds, both during these daily flights and during annual migration.

In March, the Glass Traps Foundation sent a letter to the President of Poznań with a request to properly secure the balustrades.

“Birds have not learned to recognize the glass”

Kowalski may ask: what is all this buzz about? For the perception of space. Birds see completely differently than people. -Such translucent barriers in the natural environment do not exist, so the birds have not learned and may never learn to recognize the glass as a physical barrier -translates Zyśk -Gorczyńska.

An additional difficulty is the fact that the use of glass is becoming more and more popular, which very much reflects all the elements that are opposite. – This is a deliberate architectural procedure to integrate the building into a given space and the environment. While a man does not have a major problem with this, because he recognizes that it is a glass with high reflection, the bird does not cope with such a mirror image. Therefore, at full speed, he enters bushes, trees, heaven that reflects in the glass – he adds.

The use of stickers imitating birds of prey was quite popular. However, it turns out that they are not effective. As the President of the Glass Traps Foundation says, so that such a solution would have to create a glass like from the movie “Birds” by Alfred Hitchcock.

– One sticker is enough for people on a large glass to know that there is a physical barrier. For birds, a small sticker on a large glass pane is insufficient. You need to thicken and place the stickers properly to discourage birds from flying through the glass. Just use a delicate pattern in the form of dots, stripes and in the right intervals, maintaining the so -called hand rule, wrap the glass and then solves the problem completely.

And just such an unacceptable Kowalski solution was proposed by the Foundation in a letter to the President of Poznań.

“The situation on the Berdychowski bridges will be monitored”

From the Poznań magistrate, we did not receive a clear answer as President Jacek Jaśkowiak refers to the Foundation's appeal. – Ecological issues are very important in Poznań, which is why the city listens to the voices of residents and residents who care about birds. The decision was made that the situation on Berdychowski bridges would be monitored, no dangerous events were recorded at the moment – says Joanna Żabierek, spokeswoman for the City Hall.

The architectural design of the Berdychów bridges was selected as part of the competition in 2018. The contract with the contractor was signed in June 2023. In the meantime (2021), bird protection standards were introduced in the city.

“They are aimed at indicating preventive, minimizing and compensating solutions that are unfavorable to birds and bats of changes, to preserve and restore their habitats and improve the reproduction and winter conditions of these animals” – the municipality pointed out at that time.

– When the object was designed, we did not diagnose this problem at all. Therefore, by ordering no documentation and the implementation of the bridge facility we have already treated this ordinance of the president as an act of law that came in later. Therefore, we did not treat these ordinances as applicable – indicates Krzysztof Olejniczak, director of the Municipal Road Administration.

It was this institution that the magistrate designated bridges to monitor the possible collisions of birds with glass. – Because we don't really know what the scale of the problem is, we first of all ordered monitoring and we will verify the facts. If it turns out that the problem is, we will take appropriate action. Spending such a lot of money without checking the facts would be an action against the logic of public finance – says Olejniczak.

Naturalists note that the location and correct assessment of collision traces requires some experience. Especially since the building is located on the river. – The appropriate expertise should be performed by an ornithologist who knows the problem of collision of birds with windows, that is, he knows how to look for traces, how to look around the area and knows which mark on the glass is responsible for the collision. If someone is unable to locate and assess them correctly, they may not really see the collision – explains Zyśk -Gorczyńska.

The Municipal Road Administration argues that this task will be commissioned to an external entity. – We want to get a report that will be credible for both us and the social side – adds Olejniczak.

What should such monitoring of bridges look like? A spokeswoman for the City Hall indicates that in addition to video monitoring, railing reviews will be carried out. – Glass balustrades will not be washed until the employees check if there are any traces of any strokes on them. The area around the bridges and under them will also be checked, which will assess whether there are dangerous incidents – says Joanna Żabierek.

“The windows should be shown to the birds to stop the death of millions of individuals”

The goal of the Glass Traps Foundation is to promote protective activities, thanks to which the glass surfaces will become visible to the birds. – I think Europe is just learning it, but United Stateswhich estimated how many birds can die every year as a result of a collision with windows, they know that the glass should be shown to the birds to stop the death of millions of individuals. Therefore, in some cities in the United States, laws are introduced that regulate the creation of new buildings and those that are a glass structure are 90 percent secured in terms of collisions. This is a very large visibility factor for birds – says Dr. Ewa Zyśk -Gorczyńska.

Ornithologists' voices are slowly beginning to be heard in Poland. The use of security on new glass facilities is already practicing PKPwhich included such an action in its investment standards. The president of glass traps points out that this trend can be seen on new bus shelters. It is already thinking about proper protection at the design stage.

– The situation is changing for the better, but they are indeed very slow steps. I hope that Poznań will join positive voices and that he will also become an ally when it comes to promoting good practices when it comes to securing the glass against collisions – adds Dr. Ewa Zyśk -Gorczyńska.