Over the past few months I've been in discussion with Lynn Foster for her webinar on bird-window collisions, and she suggested that I take this further and try to start an on-the-ground monitoring team in Little Rock for this spring migration. Ideally, this team would establish a series of routes through downtown and patrol them once or twice a week in the morning during April and May to look for collision victims and document them, probably splitting up into pairs to cover more ground while staying safe. If enough people respond with interest, we could probably try to start this weekend, especially since the next weekend may be too chaotic to go downtown with the eclipse travellers and such.
If anyone in other cities wants to work on collision monitoring too, that would be fantastic! The more data the better. Some smaller towns have "downtowns"/city centers that could be easily be checked once a week by one person with an iNaturalist account. With the data we collect about dangerous areas/buildings and overall collision mortality, we can more effectively petition for bird-safe glass and lighting policies. (Speaking of which, I don't have the time to start a Lights Out Arkansas program right now, but I think it's sorely needed if someone wants to take on that project.)
Let me know if you're in the LR area and interested in getting involved with this effort!!
