Bird-Friendly Development Best Practices - What & Why

Birds flying in sky.

What's Happening Now?

SDCI encourages builders, homeowners, and others to voluntarily consider best practices for bird-friendly building design and construction.

Bird-Safe Best Practices

  • Reduce Artificial Light at Night
    Consider ways to turn off unnecessary lights to avoid bird window collisions.
  • Think Collision Deterrent Retrofitting
    Consider ways to reduce collision risk through collision deterrent retrofitting when remodeling an existing building.
  • Bird-Safe Glass
    Consider installing bird-safe glass to reduce bird mortality.

Thoughtful Bird-Safe Building Design

A major part of bird-safe building design is thinking about the types of bird species that likely have habitats nearby and acknowledging that Seattle is in the Pacific Flyway when doing new construction and renovation. The Pacific Flyway is one of four major North American migration routes for birds, especially waterfowl, and extends from Alaska and Canada, through Seattle down to California, to Mexico and South America. Each year, birds follow ancestral patterns as they travel the flyway on their annual north-south migration. Some general suggestions are: 

More Information:

Project Benefits

By following best practices for bird friendly building design and construction, developers can help reduce the number of bird fatalities caused by flying into windows.

The End Result

Our webpage provides suggested best practice information to the public. 



Construction and Inspections

Nathan Torgelson, Director
Address: 700 5th Ave, Suite 2000, Seattle, WA, 98104
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 34019, Seattle, WA, 98124-4019
Phone: (206) 684-8600
Phone Alt: Violation Complaint Line: (206) 615-0808
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SDCI issues land use, construction, and trade permits, conducts construction and housing-related inspections, ensures compliance with our codes, and regulates rental rules. SDCI is committed to an antiracist workplace and to addressing racism through our work in the community.