Staff recommends bird‑safe glazing and dark‑sky lighting for large commercial and multifamily buildings

Leslie Lilly, environmental conservation program manager at Watershed Protection, briefed the committee on a city response to a council resolution directing staff to analyze bird‑friendly design and feasibility.

Lilly said Austin is on a major migration corridor and has high bird diversity; she cited BirdCast radar estimates and said “on a typical peak migration night, there’s gonna be millions and millions of birds flying just through Travis County.” The presentation reviewed how glass facades and nighttime lighting together drive collisions and summarized policy approaches other cities have used.

Watershed staff described two types of interventions: glass treatments and lighting reductions. Glass approaches include exterior screens, fritted or etched patterning, and ultraviolet coatings; the American Bird Conservancy’s 2‑by‑2 rule and a material “threat factor” are used to measure performance for smallest migrating species (hummingbirds). Staff summarized cost ranges reported by manufacturers and interviewed…