Fake Spiderwebs: A Hidden Halloween Hazard for Birds

Photo: Synthetic spiderweb decorations, Sebastian Schuster via Unsplash

As Halloween approaches, one decoration deserves to stay on the store shelf: synthetic spiderwebs. While these stretchy strands might seem like harmless fun, they're creating a serious threat to birds in our communities.

Why Spiderwebs Are So Dangerous

Natural spider silk will break under pressure, but artificial webbing holds firm. Photo: Chelsea Marques via Unsplash

When a bird encounters fake webbing, the outcome is often tragic. The synthetic material is engineered to be strong and sticky—qualities that make it perfect for decorating but lethal for wildlife. A bird that brushes against these fibers quickly becomes trapped, and their instinct to struggle only tightens the grip. Unlike natural spider silk that breaks under pressure, artificial webbing holds firm.

The danger doesn't end when Halloween is over. Wind carries loose strands into trees and vegetation where they persist for months, creating invisible traps in the very places birds need most. In urban and suburban areas where natural habitat is already limited, blocking off trees and shrubs with webbing eliminates crucial shelter and feeding spots.

A Better Way to Decorate

Here's the good news: you can still embrace the spooky season while protecting birds. Keep those synthetic webs indoors, or better yet, apply them directly to your windows. When placed on glass, they serve double duty by creating your Halloween aesthetic while making windows visible to birds.

Fall migration is in full swing right now, with millions of birds passing through our region. Window collisions kill hundreds of millions of birds annually in the United States, and simple visual markers can dramatically reduce these deaths. Spooky decals, washable window markers, or even DIY paper cutouts transform your windows into both festive displays and lifesaving signals.

Starting a Friendly Conversation

If you notice a neighbor using fake spiderwebs, a kind approach can make all the difference. Start with a compliment about their decorations, then share what you've learned about the risks to birds. Most people simply don't know about the danger and are happy to make a change once they understand. Offer specific alternatives like window application or indoor use. Keep it light and positive; frame it as a way to keep their display just as festive while being wildlife-friendly. You might be surprised how many neighbors become advocates themselves once they know.

This Halloween, choose decorations that celebrate the season without harming the wildlife that makes our neighborhoods special. Your yard can still be the spookiest on the block, just without the collateral damage.

If you do see an injured bird, please reach out to local wildlife rehabbers for assistance. We recommend AERO and Wildlife Rescue League for more information! 

Glass and Light Pollution Threaten Birds

Photo: The glass windows of the Martha Washington Library reflect trees and vegetation, Glenda Booth.

By Glenda C. Booth

Originally published in the Connection Newspapers, Oct. 24, 2024

On the Saturday overnight of Oct. 19-20, 352,400 birds crossed Fairfax County, most migrating to their wintering grounds. Every fall, around four billion birds fly from Canada into the United States and another 4.7 billion fly over the U.S. southern border, according to Cornell University experts. But birds face multiple hazards, including collisions into windows and human-caused light pollution, three speakers told 75 attendees at an Oct. 9 online program sponsored by the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance.

NVBA has launched a campaign to prevent bird deaths, citing a National Audubon Society study that found a 30 percent drop in bird populations in North America since 1970, which means more than one in four birds or three billion birds have been lost since then.

Most birds migrate in the fall to find food, explained Greg Butcher, retired Migratory Species Coordinator for U.S. Forest Service. While some birds like swallows and finches migrate during the day to feed on the wing, 80 percent migrate at night, he said.

Collisions with Glass

Over one billion birds die by colliding with glass in buildings in the U.S., Christine Sheppard of the American Bird Conservancy, told the group. A few bounce off, but “scavengers are good at snatching up carcasses,” she added.

“We are getting collisions everywhere because the birds are sucked into the built environment, not just high up in skyscrapers,” Sheppard explained. A Smithsonian Institution analysis estimated that houses and other buildings one-to-three stories tall account for 253 million bird fatalities; low-rise buildings four-to-11 stories high account for 339 million bird deaths; and high-rise buildings 11 floors and higher cause the deaths of 508,000 birds a year. Taller structures like skyscrapers have higher per building mortality rates, but residences are responsible for most because of their numbers.

Birds crash into windows because they perceive glass reflections of vegetation, landscapes or sky to be real and they try to reach the area. Last October, in one night, nearly 1,000 birds collided into Chicago’s mostly-glass McCormick Place Lakeside Center, the highest number on record then. American Bird Conservancy reports that once New York City’s Javits Convention Center was renovated and bird-friendly glass installed, collisions dropped by 90 percent.

NVBA is promoting bird-friendly designs for buildings and bird-friendly glass, for homes, for example, screens, decals and tape on windows’ exteriors.

Paracord hung in front of a window to warn birds not to fly into it. Photo: Powell Hutton

Some localities have adopted bird-friendly building requirements, Sheppard said, including Washington, D.C.; Howard County, Maryland; New York City; and Portland, Oregon.

Light Pollution

Laura Greenleaf from Dark Sky Virginia began by saying, “In the last 100 years, we’ve turned night into day … natural darkness is fundamental for all of us.” She contends that on the east coast, light pollution is increasing ten percent every year. The NVBA campaign brochure defines light pollution as “lights that are too bright, too white, mis-aligned or on all night,” like lit parking lots.

“We’re lighting up so much more than we need to, especially landscaping lighting,” she argued. “You can light sport fields without lighting the sky.”

Artificial night light affects birds’ foraging, predator-prey balances, emergence from shelter, communication, navigation and migration, Greenleaf maintained. “Insects are the foundation of the food web, but lights suck them out of the environment.” 

Lights Out D.C. volunteers walk Washington’s streets before sunrise during the migration season and collect dead and stunned birds.

Advocates are urging government officials to enact policies to “adopt lighting, construction and other measures to protect birds and other wildlife from the worst impacts of our built-up environment,” explained Tom Blackburn, NVBA Advocacy Chair. He added, “Revisions to lighting ordinances could be very effective in reducing light pollution. Rapidly-developing areas such as Tysons, Reston and Leesburg could require new construction to include bird-safe windows and incorporate Dark Sky International’s Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting into building design.”

The campaign also seeks to “convince business owners to adopt ‘Lights Out for Birds’ practices during spring and fall migration seasons, as many other towns and cities have done and to convince developers and architects to incorporate bird-safe windows into building designs.”

Fairfax County

Government policies vary widely. Kelly M. Atkinson, with Fairfax County’s Planning and Development Department, said, “Fairfax County is committed to safeguarding local wildlife and has implemented measures to mitigate the effects of outdoor lighting on birds and other wildlife. In 2020, the county amended its Zoning Ordinance to adhere to updated lighting industry standards that prioritize energy efficiency and restrict outdoor lighting to a maximum color temperature of 3,000 K.

“During the review of commercial and multi-family proposals going through the public hearing process, we ask applicants to provide information on bird-friendly design strategies which could include window glazing, lighting practices to reduce light emitted during evening hours and incorporation of natural landscaping around the building. Additionally, the Fairfax County Park Authority actively advocates for dark sky-friendly initiatives, urging residents and businesses to adopt measures that reduce light pollution and protect local ecosystems.”

Blackburn responded, “I am very pleased that Fairfax County has taken steps to reduce the adverse impacts of our built-up environment on birds and other wildlife. I am hopeful that we can work with county officials to promote additional measures, including supporting a ‘Lights Out’ policy during migration and reducing the recommended color temperature for lighting to 2,500 K.”

Find out more:

Reducing collisions: https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/; www.Birdsmartglass.org. 

Lights out: http://www.darkvirginiasky.org/ 

Bird migration: https://birdcast.info/ 

View the Oct. 9 NVBA webinar

NVBA Initiates a Bird Safe NOVA Campaign

Photo: Purple Martins, Keith Kingdon/Audubon Photography Awards

By Tom Blackburn

Billions of birds die each year from human-made causes. NVBA, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Nature Forward, DarkSky NOVA, DarkSky Virginia, Friends of Dyke Marsh, and Friends of Little Hunting Creek have formed a partnership, Bird Safe NOVA, in an effort to reduce the devastating toll on birds from excess light and window collisions.

Lights Out for Birds

More than 100 million birds migrate north through northern Virginia each spring, and 160 million birds, their numbers swelled by a successful breeding season, migrate south through northern Virginia in the fall. Most birds migrate at night to take advantage of calmer winds and lower temperatures, relying on the moon and the stars to help them navigate. The birds can be disoriented by bright lights from tall buildings and sky glow from light pollution and crash into the buildings or fly around the lights, squandering the energy needed to make their demanding journeys. 

Bird Safe NOVA’s Lights Out campaign is a voluntary program that involves turning off and/or blocking as many external and internal building lights at workplaces as possible at night to help prevent the death or injury of birds migrating through our area. The key times to reduce lighting to protect migratory birds are during peak migration, which in northern Virginia is from 11 PM to sunrise, March 15 through May 31 and September 1 through November 15. Bird Safe NOVA joins Lights Out programs throughout the United States that focus on turning off excess lights during the spring and fall bird migrations.

Restore the Night

2012 composite image published in Science News, June 10, 2016

Artificial lighting is increasing globally by about 10% per year. Light pollution -- unshielded, misaimed, too bright, too white, and on-all-night lights – causes birds to lose sleep, show signs of increased stress, and have less successful breeding seasons. It also disrupts the lives of other wildlife, from insects to mammals, as well as humans. The Bird Safe NOVA partnership will work to publicize the importance of reducing lighting and work with local organizations and governments to help reclaim the night sky.

Bird-Safe Buildings

More than one billion birds die from collisions with buildings in the United States each year. The birds mistake the reflection of trees and vegetation in a window for open space and fly into it. Among the human-made causes of bird deaths, only habitat loss and outdoor cats are responsible for killing more birds. 

Building in Reston, VA. Photo: Tom Blackburn

Houses and other buildings up to 3 stories high cause slightly less than half of the deaths, and buildings 4 to 11 stories high account for the rest. 

Bird Safe NOVA will publicize the ways homeowners can reduce the number of bird collisions with their windows and advocate for retrofitting commercial buildings and constructing new buildings with bird-friendly glass.

Bird Safe NOVA Program 

Join us at 7:30 PM on October 9 for an online kick-off program. Our speakers include Greg Butcher, the recently retired Migratory Species Coordinator for U.S. Forest Service’s International Programs; Christine Shepherd, the American Bird Conservancy’s Bird Collisions Campaign Director; and Laura Greenleaf, the volunteer leader of DarkSky Virginia. The program is free. You can register for the program here.

Resolve to Help the Birds in 2024!

Photo: Tufted Titmouse, Jocelyn Anderson/Audubon Photography Awards

Connie Ericson

New year’s resolutions about more exercise and a better diet are traditional for this time of year, because those actions can help us live better, happier lives. But another way to improve your quality of life is by helping the birds. If the pandemic taught us nothing else, it is that spending time in the natural environment is healthy for both our bodies and our minds. So, let’s resolve to help our local wildlife in 2024. Consider undertaking either or both of these home improvement projects in the coming year:

• switching outdoor lighting fixtures to comply with dark sky guidelines

• modifying windows to protect from bird strikes

There’s some work involved, and at least some moderate costs, but both can help our local wildlife.

Outdoor Lights

I have to confess that I took steps to change out my outdoor lighting fixtures (one on the front porch and one in the back), not out of a sense of mission and virtue, but because the fixture in the back yard stopped working. I kept yellow bug lights in both fixtures for many years, but that satisfies only one of the five basic principles for responsible outdoor lighting:

1. Do your lights have a clear purpose? 

2. Is the light directed to where it is needed and not at the sky or a neighbor’s property? 

3. Are the lights generating more light than you really need, or would a lower-wattage bulb or a dimmer serve the needed purpose? 

4. Are your lights on all night long or would timers or sensors limit unnecessary light?

5. Are you using warmer colored lighting where possible?

Both of my fixtures are security lights that allow me to check who is at the door, and I choose to keep them on all night. The old fixtures had sensors so they came on only at dusk; however, neither was adequately shielded to direct light downward only to the porch. So, I began my hunt. I wanted lights that were shielded and designed to switch on and off from light sensors. But I also wanted the lights to dim or brighten, relying on a motion sensor. I found fixtures to order through a big-box building supply only after MANY internet searches. I have since learned that DarkSky International certifies light fixtures. You can search for compliant fixtures for various uses on its website. It would have sped up my process to use that website, but I did get the job done!

The total cost for the fixtures and the dimmable, yellow LED bulbs was around $200. But, if you’re not yet ready to invest in new fixtures, check your outdoor lights to see if some of them can be eliminated (or just turned off). Switch out bright bulbs for yellow bug lights, and consider whether you can modify them with motion detectors so they are not on all the time. One other action I am taking, although this is a gradual process, is installing room-darkening shades, blinds, or curtains on the windows to reduce light spill at night. I haven’t done them all, but I can already see a difference when I step outside at night. 

Windows

Over the years I noticed that birds flew into some of my windows, particularly the windows off the back patio where I had some bird feeders, and the two large picture windows on the front of my house. Although taller buildings may present some higher risks for bird strikes (Threats to Birds: Collisions, Fish & Wildlife Service), there are a lot more low-profile structures (like my two-story house) than tall buildings, and they both can cause bird deaths. So, I decided I needed to take action.

What I learned is that I had to make my windows visible to the birds, and that meant creating an image on the outside of the windows. Indoor window coverings, or decals applied to windows indoors, do not eliminate the danger: birds can be confused by reflections, which are not changed by anything covering or marking the window inside. Fortunately, I found there were many ways I could retrofit my windows to make the birds turn back. The American Bird Conservancy website provides links to a variety of do-it-yourself products. ASNV also makes available a how-to video written and filmed by a local Eagle Scout.

I decided to try out several products on my back patio storm door, which I could reach easily and which had experienced bird strikes. I found the easiest product for me to apply was the small, square decals on a two-inch grid. I was able to see the decals from inside the house, but after a day or so I found I did not notice them. I next considered whether to treat some or all of my windows. I knew at least some of the windows where strikes had occurred, but was not certain about the others. I finally decided to treat them all. Because I’m leery of ladders, I had to hire a handyman for the second-story windows, and I decided not to risk having him treat just some of the windows, only to have to arrange for a return visit.

And, I’m happy with the results. I have not needed to replace the decals in the three years since I installed them, and they were not affected by professional window washers. I am only aware of two window strikes since I completed the project, and they occurred at night at a window directly over the previously unshielded front porch light. I’m hopeful that having changed the light fixture changes the risk at that window.

Of course, there many other ways you can improve life for our local birds. Keep your cats indoors, or build them a “catio,” from which they can safely (for the birds) experience the outdoors. There are volunteer projects in local parks for removing invasive plants and planting native plants that nurture local insects and birds. And you can create some bird-friendly habitat in your yard with native plants, natural mulch from fallen leaves, and brush piles that can bring back fireflies. You can advocate for policies that promote conservation at the local, state and national levels. Resolving to take any of those actions in 2024 provides benefits to native wildlife.

How to Prevent Bird Window Collisions: Watch this Video

Photo: Bird-friendly Glass, NAS

Oakton High school student and passionate birder, Elliot Frank was concerned about how to reduce the high number of bird fatalities caused by window strikes. He decided to tackle the issue for his Eagle Scout project. With the help of ASNV mentors and his fellow scouts, Elliot produced an informative and engaging video on bird-window collisions that he has offered to ASNV. The video outlines various techniques for homeowners to make their windows bird-safe. You can watch it here.

Elliot Frank

ASNV Praises Aventon Holdings I, LLC for Bird-friendly Development Project

Photo: Black and White Warbler, Laura Erickson

By Jessica Bigger

A little over two years ago, Aventon Holdings I, LLC approached neighboring communities in the Mount Vernon District in Virginia to get residents’ input on what kind of development they envisioned at Aventon’s proposed building site. The developer is planning to erect a seven to eight story apartment building at the south end of Huntington Metro Station. “The developer came in with the approach of asking “How can we make this community better,” noted Cathy Ledec, a longtime conservation activist and a director on the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia Board.

Ledec, who lives in the Mount Vernon District, worked with Aventon to provide guidance on encompassing bird-friendly design elements into the apartment building’s exterior. Each nearby neighborhood set up committees and met with Aventon representatives and its consulting firms  multiple times over the past two years to contribute their thoughts and ideas for the project prior to Aventon submitting a proposed building design plan.

With help from the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, neighbors and other advocacy groups, Aventon incorporated environmental and bird-friendly design elements into the building plan from the beginning. “In some cases, developers will try to add these elements after a building is designed, but if you incorporate it into the building design from the get go, it’s much easier rather than adding these elements as an afterthought,” said Ledec. 

The Aventon is the second project in Fairfax County with a proffer that includes bird-friendly design elements as a key component of the building plan. A proffer is an agreement between the county and the developer in which the developer agrees to minimize the impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods and the county by providing funds for amenities such as road improvements, schools, parks and more. The first Fairfax County project known to include bird-friendly design in the proffer is One Tysons East, which will be built across from the McLean Metro Station. 

Bird-friendly windows, NAS

The Avenon property abuts Mount Eagle Park, which includes a heavily treed conservation area. The apartment building will sit at the top of a hill that is a migratory bird hotspot. So it was a priority for the developer to create apartments that would fit well with the surrounding environment, rather than be an obstacle. Anyone living on the east side of the apartment building will have a gorgeous view of the park, and on a clear day, residents who live on the top floor will likely get a view of the Potomac River and beyond.

Along with where the building will sit on the property, Aventon included several bird-friendly elements to the apartment building’s exterior, including reduced use of reflective glass surfaces, shading and recessed balconies. The developer has also committed to using native plants for landscaping. This will become an extension of habitat for forest-based birds, providing them food and cover.