It is well documented that the Temple University campus, with it’s many buildings with large windows, is hazardous to birds. Thousands meet their demise when they mistakenly fly into the windows. Paley Library is recognized as one of the most dangerous buildings for birds because of the trees surrounding the building and the extremely large main level windows. Many of the birds don’t stand a chance.

Over the years the University has tried different strategies as deterrents. Unfortunately, attaching plastic hawk figurels to the building exterior and putting a few bird decals on the windows has made minimal difference. In 2012, a new strategy was devised. Students at the Tyler School of Art designed a new type of stencil to apply to windows that proved more effective in repelling the birds before they made contact. The good news is that we are finally beginning to install these decals on windows around the Paley Library. Here is an example of the decal’s appearance on windows in the corridor between Paley and Tuttleman.

No solution has yet proven to be100 percent effective in ending all bird strikes, but we hope this will help to decrease the numbers of birds that meet an untimely death because of Paley Library.