Of Glass and Birds: Ross Matteson, "Virgina" Bronze statue of a Peregrine Falcon famous in Seattle

Ross Matteson, "Virgina" Bronze statue of a Peregrine Falcon. Photo by Wayne Stratz (2015)

The first piece of art to get photographed at the Cornell Ornithology Labs was Ross Matteson's bronze statue of a Peregrine Falcon named Virginia.

Virginia and her mate nested in Downtown Seattle in 1994. The city adopted this wild family, but sadly Virginia died, as many birds do, flying into a sheet of glass.

Seems strange that two of my greatest passions go so horribly wrong together. It is estimated that somewhere between 100 million and a billion birds die annually flying into glass windows.

What can be done? Here is a list of suggestions which work better than what is often used.