A brightly-lit Australian Apple store selling iPhones and Macbooks has become the location of nightly carnage involving native wildlife that’s leaving shoppers shocked. As flocks of migratory tree martins “plummet” from high in the sky to roost in trees at dusk, dozens are missing their mark and instead faceplanting hard into the brightly lit shopfront.
For over a decade, around 10,000 migratory tree martins have flocked to Leigh Street, one of Adelaide’s most popular cafe strips. While their presence has delighted bird lovers, the city council has been less than impressed, claiming droppings from the “problem” birds are a “serious risk to public hygiene”, and so it netted their trees to drive them away.
But the decision created an entirely new “problem” for the birds after they arrived from the tropical north this season. Unable to roost in their preferred habitat, they’ve been forced to an even busier location, Rundle Mall. The birds spend their days high in the sky, catching insects, then fly down to roost in large groups as fast as they can to avoid predators like peregrine falcons.
Local rescuer Rachel is one of a handful of volunteers who have begun standing in front of the Apple store to collect the dead and dying tree martins. She estimates 30 are dying every evening and morning as the birds disperse. As they started coming into care around the city a week ago, she fears hundreds have already collided with the windows around Rundle Mall.
“It’s a lot of birds. They come down fast and don’t see the windows. I feel traumatised, disgusted and really upset,” she told Yahoo News.
Related: New York City map reveals horrifying bird strike statistic
Another rescuer named Alyia watched on as dozens of shoppers excitedly gathered on the street to watch the birds fly into the nearby trees, but the mood changed after they began to hit the glass.
“People were there filming in amazement at the sheer amount of birds, but they quickly dispersed after the birds started hitting the windows. They stopped filming and walked off because it was horrific,” she told Yahoo News.
“I saw two birds nearly stepped on. I screamed at one guy to stop him, because he didn’t realise what he was about to do. And he looked back in absolute shock.”
Shoppers shocked by bird carnage in front of Apple store
Extensive video shot on Wednesday night shows the store closing for the day as the birds strike the glass. Passing shoppers appear stunned, and some rush to help as the carnage unfolds. Rescuers do their best to collect the birds and assess them for damage. “This is as horrible as I thought it would be,” one says. “This is actually breaking my heart,” another later adds.
Some birds die immediately, others need to be euthanised, a handful go into care with trained rescuers, a lucky few fly away, but the fate of others is unknown. “Some were hitting the windows and falling onto roofs and we couldn’t get to them, others were able to fly off again,” Rachel explained.
US-based Apple has dimmed storefront lights in its home country to lessen its impact on migratory birds. But Rachel claims her pleas to the company’s management in the Adelaide store have fallen on deaf ears. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Yahoo, so it remains unclear what it will do to mitigate the problem tonight.
The situation in Adelaide is believed to have been occurring for at least five days, and rescuers estimate hundreds of birds may have been affected. On Thursday, Adelaide’s City Council told Yahoo News it has been “discussing” ways to respond to the problem.
“The City of Adelaide became aware of increasing bird strikes against windows within Rundle Mall in the past week. We have been discussing mitigation measures with retailers, including trialling new lighting,” it said in a statement.
“The situation is being closely monitored by City of Adelaide staff and government environmental agencies.”
Bird expert ‘saddened’ by Adelaide bird deaths
Birdlife Australia’s Sean Dooley told Yahoo News news of the carnage had left him “quiet sad”. “It’s so rare to have such good numbers of a native species using a dense urban setting as a roosting site. It’s very unusual,” he said.
Collisions with windows are common in the United States, particularly in Chicago and New York City where large building have been built in the middle of migratory pathways birds have used for thousands of years. But in Australia, most native birds are territorial, and so window strikes are less of a problem.
Bright storefronts confuse birds, particularly when its reflective. “They don’t see the windows as as a solid object, they just see sky, so they continue to fly,” Dooley said.
In the evening, lights inside stores can disorientate birds, preventing them from understanding where they are spatially in relation to the moon.
“The more buildings are lit up, the more likely birds are to blunder into them,” Dooley added.
Authorities had considered birds a ‘shining case’ of wildlife in a city
South Australia’s department of environment confirmed it was aware of the “recent challenges” faced by tree martins flocking to Rundle Mall which are caused by “reflections in business windows”.
“We are deeply saddened by the resulting injuries and fatalities for the species. We consider Adelaide’s tree martins a shining case for how our city can be wild,” it said in a statement.
“We are actively engaged in discussions with the City of Adelaide and welcome collaborative opportunities to enhance welfare outcomes for these birds.”
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