Birdsong

Today, more and more small birds such as tits or goldfinches are stunned by hitting the bay windows of our buildings. As for the heaviest birds such as blackbirds, the glazing leaves them no chance, the violence of the impact causing their immediate death. The current craze for building facades made of iron and glass has greatly increased this type of incident.

Generally speaking, as cities continue to densify and expand, birds become rarer. A sign that the disconnection is getting worst between urban environments and the natural world, in addition to their collisions with glass walls, birds are exposed to air pollution, they have it increasing difficulties to find their food, places where they feel safe and suitable sites for nesting.

But how important are birds in our urbanized lives? Everyone has had the following experience. As we walk down a noisy street crowded with cars and producing a deafening sound volume, we suddenly perceive a slight bird song. Looking up, we see a bird perched on a nearby tree. At this precise moment, this vision makes us rediscover a lost connection with nature. It is a reminder that wildlife exists beyond the artificial world of cities... From a symbolic point of view, the presence of birds is more important than it seems. The American botanist and essayist Lyanda Lynn Haupt, who explores the complex links between humans and the wild world, recalls that ‘For humans, birds are the ultimate symbols of freedom, transcending the constraints of the earth and the human condition.’