Golden Gate Audubon Society

Golden Gate Audubon Society

Golden Gate Audubon Society

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Standards for Bird Safe Buildings

Between 750 million to 1 billion birds are killed in North America each year as a result of collisions with artificial structures.  Several hundred million collisions result from windows in buildings, particularly plate glass and other highly transparent or reflective glass.  Unfortunately birds have not evolved to navigate an environment of transparent glass.

In response to this problem, Golden Gate Audubon joined with San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond and Alameda city planning staff and other conservation advocates to design and implement standards for bird-safe buildings.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved Standards for Bird-Safer Buildings in September 2011, which were signed into law by Mayor Ed Lee in October 2011. You can read the San Francisco standards here.

The City of Oakland’s planning staff added Bird Safety Measures to their standard building permit requirements in June 2013. You can read about the Oakland measures on our blog or read the measures themselves here.

In 2016 Richmond approved Bird Safe Standards.

In 2018 Alameda approved Bird Safe Building Standards and a Dark Skies ordinance.

Further resources:

2011 KQED Quest podcast and article on bird safe buildings.

2012 Video on Bird-Safe Building Standards by San Francisco filmmaker Matt Baker:

Contact the San Francisco Bird Strike Hotline

Click here to report injured birds found outside of buildings. You can also report by email to safebirds@goldengateaudubon.org or by called Golden Gate Audubon at (510) 843-2222 with the following information:

  • Date and time
  • Address including cross streets
  • Location details
  • Species of bird, photograph if possible
  • Male or female, if known
  • Adult or juvenile bird, if known
  • Condition of bird
  • Did you see or hear the collision? If so, please provide a description:
  • Weather
  • Your Phone Number or Email Address:
Please email a photo of the bird and building, if possible. If the bird appears to be injured, call San Francisco Animal Care and Control at (415) 554-9400 and record the date and time of your call.

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Get Involved

  • East Bay Conservation Committee
  • San Francisco Conservation Committee
  • Friends of the Alameda Wildlife Reserve

Related Pages

  • About Snowy Plovers
  • How You Can Help
  • Snowy Plovers in San Francisco
  • Avian Mortality
  • Burrowing Owls
  • Emergency Preparedness
  • Heron, Egret & Cormorant Nests
  • Laws Protecting Birds
  • Planning Your Tree Project
  • North Richmond Shoreline
  • Pier 94
  • Regional Wetlands
  • Tree Care and Bird Safety
  • Prevent Raptor Poisoning
  • Standards for Bird Safe Buildings
  • Injured Birds
  • Beach Dune Ecosystem
  • Birds and Collisions
  • Artificial Turf and Lighting
  • San Francisco’s South Eastern Waterfront
  • Lights Out for Birds
  • Presidio
  • Lake Merced
  • Snowy Plovers
  • Cats Indoors
  • Making the City Safe for Wildlife
  • Birds at Risk
  • Wetlands and Wildlands
  • Yosemite Creek Watershed
  • MLK Jr. Shoreline Park
  • McLaughlin Eastshore State Park
  • Alameda Wildlife Reserve

Manage your GGAS account online

Now you can manage all your GGAS business online — renew your membership, update your contact information, view past donations, or sign up for events such as classes, Birdathon or the Christmas Bird Count. Click here to access your account. (You’ll need to create a login name and password if you don’t have one already. If you forget your password, click on the “forgot your password” link.)

Contact Us

Golden Gate Audubon
2530 San Pablo Avenue, Suite G
Berkeley, California 94702

Phone: 510.843.2222

Office hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, or by appointment

Email: ggas@goldengateaudubon.org

Our Mission

The Golden Gate Audubon Society engages people to experience the wonder of birds and to translate that wonder into actions which protect native bird populations and their habitats.

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