This page features some spectacularly sad window collision victims found on campus.
If you want to help protect all birds – from common to rare – please turn off your lights and close your shades: both on campus, and at home.
On April 25, 2023 Dr. Pacheco found this Kentucky Warbler, a recent window collision victim here on campus. The Kentucky Warbler is not a common bird in the area. When listing it on eBird, it comes up as “rare.”
On June 23, 2023 Dr. Pacheco’s student, Emily Spencer, found this Common Gallinule on Cecil B. Moore Avenue between 12th and 13th streets. While we are not certain of the cause of death, it is quite likely that this was a juvenile attempting to migrate through the city for the first time. The Gallinule’s preferred habitat are marshes, ponds, or other wetland areas.
On August 27, 2024 Dr. Gordon Witty alerted Mandy Gibson of a window collision victim that was decaying on a sub-roof of Mazur Hall. Mandy retrieved the bird and after consulting Dr. Pacheco, an identification of an Eastern Whip-Poor-Will was made. The image you see above is not the actual specimen that was retrieved, but a stock image of what this bird looks like in nature. This type of bird has never been seen or heard on campus, and is truly remarkable in a devastating way.
On August 19, 2024 a Mourning Warbler (the top two images) was found on the Mazur-Gladfelter Terrace, skulking in the bushes and foraging for insects. It was the first time this species has been seen on Temple’s campus and marks the 117th species documented here.
Only 17 days later, another Mourning Warbler was found on campus (the bottom two images). Unlike the bird from August, this one was not alive; it had succumbed to a window collision at the main entrance of the Charles Library.
On September 16th this Virginia Rail was found at the Tyler School of Art, having died from a collision with glass. This type of rail is a small waterbird usually found hiding in dense vegetation in freshwater marshes.
