In recognition of National Bird Day on January 5, we’re highlighting WSC member Ser Anderson’s latest story of service. Ser is currently in their second term with Birds Connect Seattle, as an Urban Conservation Educator. Birds Connect Seattle is one of the state’s first conservation organizations and offers environmental and bird education programs for adults and youth, field trips and neighborhood bird outings, community science projects, and community outreach programs.

"My name is Ser (they/them) and I’m an AmeriCorps member serving as the Urban Conservation Educator with Birds Connect Seattle. This is my second term with Birds Connect and over the last year, I have spent a lot of time coordinating the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project, a community science project designed to improve our understanding of how many bird window collisions occur in the greater Seattle area and where collisions occur, to engage people with the issue of bird-window collisions and to prevent future collisions.
The issue of bird window collisions is a serious one, but it doesn’t get a lot of attention. As many as two billion birds die in window collisions every year in the US alone. Birds can’t see clear glass and they can’t distinguish reflected trees or other habitat elements from real trees or sky, but there are some relatively straight-forward things individuals can do to make their windows more visible to birds. To make glass visible to birds, people can put some type of marking on the outside surface of their windows, spaced no more than two inches apart, to interrupt the reflection for even the smallest birds. There are lots of different options for how to make these markings, everything from multiple types of commercially available decals and tapes to DIY art projects for kids or adults.
This fall, I created and led a workshop to provide individuals an opportunity to design their own window collision deterrent art, which they would be able to replicate on as many windows around their house as they want with a small investment in white oil-based markers and a moderate investment of time and energy. I led this workshop for the first time at the Rainier Beach Youth Conference and learned a lot from that experience. The hour we had together ended way too soon and none of the designs were completed, but all the participants left with the beginnings of a design and information on how to proceed to use their design to protect birds from window collisions at their homes. I’m looking forward to offering the workshop again in the spring, using what I learned from the first one to improve future workshops and ensure that I have assembled enough materials that the workshop will be replicable by others, potentially future AmeriCorps members serving with Birds Connect Seattle or other people involved in bird collision monitoring and prevention across the country. I really enjoyed the opportunity to combine conservation with art to produce practical tools to address and raise awareness about bird window collisions. It was an empowering experience to be able to develop a new workshop for Birds Connect Seattle from the intersection of a conservation need and my own interests.
My AmeriCorps service is helping me develop the confidence to learn about what the world needs and find ways to put my passion, interests and skills to work to help address those needs. I’m excited to continue this process throughout the rest of my service term."

Interested in learning more about the birds in your backyard? Start your journey here:
Birds Connect Seattle
A Birder's Guide to Washington
Washington Ornithological Society