"In January 2025, reports were made to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab of not one, but two banded Northern Cardinals that struck the same window of a residence on the same day. The female banded in late winter 2023, and the male banded in fall 2024, were both banded at a nearby banding station in Illinois and died because of the collision with this glass window. These birds were both under 2 years of age.

Another Northern Cardinal window collision victim was reported to the BBL several years before. This cardinal struck a window adjacent to bird feeders at a residential home in Cambridge, New York. Banded only seven months prior in Belknap County, New Hampshire as a hatch year individual, this male cardinal sadly died before reaching its first breeding season. These are just a few of many encounter reports received at the BBL for banded birds that have collided with glass.

Since 1922, the BBL has amassed nearly 11,000 reports of banded bird collisions, including more than 900 reported in the last five years alone. Given how rarely window collision victims are detected and reported, this is an astonishing number. Many birds reported after building collisions are species, like cardinals, that frequent bird feeders, particularly during the winter months...."