Many species of birds, especially small insect-eaters, migrate at night. Guided in part by the constellations, they are attracted to lights shining from urban structures. Birds either flutter about the light until they drop from exhaustion, or actually hit the object. Fog, rain or low cloud can make the problem worse. After collisions, many birds are just stunned and revive in a couple of hours.  However, if they find themselves trapped in a maze of office towers, their chances of survival are slim. Gulls, cats, crows and other predators soon learn to patrol the area in search of an easy meal.
As day breaks, they collide with windows reflecting natural surroundings, often with fatal results. If they manage to avoid further collisions, some may slowly starve to death. FLAP is a charitable non-for-profit founded in 1993 to address this tragic phenomenon. FLAP volunteers have recovered over 42,000 birds from 164 species, all victims of collisions with Toronto buildings. It is unsettling to add that 64 of these species are in serious population decline. During migration seasons, FLAP volunteers patrol Toronto's downtown core in the early morning hours to rescue live birds and collect the dead ones. Volunteers use nylon nets to help capture confused birds. Paper bags provide an easy means of transport, and give each bird a warm, dark place in which to recuperate before being set free.  After quickly determining the species and examining each bird for injuries, a volunteer will place the bird inside a paper bag, making sure it stays upright. Within a few hours, if there is no sign of injury, the bird will be released in a natural area well beyond the downtown core. An injured bird, especially one suffering from shock or head trauma, may be given homeopathic remedies to help the body heal itself. If the bird has completely recovered after a few hours, it is released. If the injury is severe, the bird is taken to a local wildlife rehabilitation center. Any dead bird salvaged by FLAP volunteers goes towards research purposes. As the first organization of its kind in the world, FLAP has mobilized the NGO, business, educational, and government sectors to find progressive ways to change behaviour and provide new ways of thinking about bird conservation in urban areas. FLAP has created models for replicability of both our awareness and rescue initiatives, like those now running strong in New York, Chicago, Montreal, and Minneapolis and St. Paul. Because migratory birds know no borders, international collaborations are imperative to protect them through lasting change. Over the past 15 years, FLAP has joined forces with dozens of environmental organizations, governments at all levels in Canada and the United States, business associations, industry groups, and post-secondary institutions, to create several world-first programs. These include Lights Out Toronto! (LOT!), the City of Toronto's Bird-Friendly Development Guidelines and the Bird-Friendly Development Rating System and Acknowledgement Program. The success of these programs is reflected in the positive attention they are receiving from cities across North America and Europe. Here in Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service funded FLAP to produce the Bird-Friendly Cities brochure and PowerPoint presentation, aimed to take our LOT! model across Canada. We see our programs sowing the seeds for a future of environmental leaders, in a broad spectrum of professions, from architects and planners to teachers and researchers. We also believe that by developing multi-faceted partnerships we will continue to inspire individuals and municipalities to establish FLAP-like programs. HOME