SUNY ESF Community Bird Collision Project

Launched in November 2025, the SUNY ESF Community Bird Collision Project aims to document bird-window collisions across SUNY ESF campus and the surrounding areas in Syracuse, NY. The project is led by the Guy A. Baldassarre Birding Club at SUNY School of Environmental Science & Forestry. Members of the community, students, and visitors are encouraged to join the project and submit observations.

This project focuses on monitoring bird strikes on SUNY ESF’s campus and developing a data-driven action plan to significantly reduce bird-window collisions at SUNY ESF.

Visit their iNaturalist webpage.

U of Rochester: Smash the Crash

Smash the Crash is an interdisciplinary community initiative to study and prevent bird-window collisions at the University of Rochester. Started in the summer of 2024, it began with a building monitoring study during fall migration. After finding 58 confirmed collision victims in only seven weeks, it has since expanded to include a student bird-safe window design project, a campaign to install retrofits and change the university’s design standards, a spring migration study, and a variety of educational outreach activities, from exhibitions to art festivals. Tying together research and art, its core team is comprised of five faculty members from Art and Art History, Biology, Brain  Cognitive Sciences, and the Humanities, along with twelve student volunteers and partnerships with the Genesee Valley Audubon Society, Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, and Braddock Bay Raptor Research. Smash the Crash has been featured in the Democrat & Chronicle and the Campus Times.

To find out more, check out their website—www.smashthecrashur.com—for updates, resources, and contact information, including a submission form if you have discovered a collision near or on the university campus.