Programs
Data and Research
Through meticulous on-the-street bird rescue efforts, FLAP Canada not only donates invaluable specimens for research, but our vital collision data further contributes to research and education aimed at understanding and mitigating these tragic incidents. With these data, we also guide building owners and operators toward compliant yet effective solutions, embodying our unwavering resolve to safeguard the delicate balance of nature in the face of urban development.
Bird Collision Monitoring Patrols
FLAP Canada conducts collision monitoring/bird rescue patrols during spring and fall migration, when bird-window collisions are at their peak in the Greater Toronto Area. Trained volunteers search for birds that have hit windows, collecting anywhere from 3,000 to 5,500 injured and dead birds each year. All observations are recorded in a centralized database. A network of volunteer drivers transports injured birds to wildlife rehabilitation facilities for medical treatment to give them the best chance at recovery. Are you interested in joining FLAP’s dedicated bird rescue team? Visit our volunteer page for more information.
Birds in Your Hood
Birds In Your Hood is a local educational outreach program, designed by FLAP Canada, that encourages youth to appreciate the diversity of birds in their own neighbourhoods. Our goal is that future generations recognize the beauty of birds, their value in our local ecosystems and be engaged in protecting vulnerable species through bird-safe buildings.
Launched in 2018, Birds in Your Hood encourages students to create their own conservation-based projects, as we engage them in the struggle to protect vulnerable species and save the lives of individual birds by retrofitting buildings to make them bird-safe. FLAP gives presentations about how and when birds migrate and what challenges they face. The presentations may be enhanced by bird walks in neighbourhood parks or around local buildings.
Relaunched for spring of 2025, FLAP is once again offering this innovative program, this time delivered by our knowledgeable and experienced volunteers.
If you live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and would like to have your school participate in Birds In Your Hood, BOOK NOW.
Bird-Safe Campus
FLAP Canada’s Bird-Safe Campus initiative seeks to empower students, professors, sustainability staff, and others in the pursuit of a collision-free campus environment. Detailed guides, tools, and best practices are at the core of Bird-Safe Campus, all specifically tailored to the unique needs of academic institutions. If you have been hoping to advocate for and implement bird-safe solutions and practices on your own campus, this is the resource for you!
Homeowner Awareness Program
Research suggests that, in Canada, houses likely cause most bird-window collisions because they are the most numerous type of building. FLAP Canada has an ongoing program to educate homeowners about this danger and how to make their windows safe for birds. We do this through distributing informative brochures and other resources, giving presentations at public events, using social media, partnering with government, and much more. Learn how to make your home safe for birds.
Ongoing Campaigns
Global Bird Rescue
Global Bird Rescue is an annual event hosted by FLAP Canada to raise awareness about one of the leading causes of bird deaths across the globe: collisions with buildings. Each year, in late September/early October, teams and individuals around the world take to the streets to search for and rescue birds that have collided with buildings in their community. A major aim of the event is also to inspire participants to protect local and migrating birds by making windows bird-safe. Anyone can participate, anywhere in the world! Learn more and sign up here.
Annual Bird Layout
Although FLAP Canada has saved an impressive number of window-collision survivors over the years, many birds do not survive the impact. One of the ways FLAP aims to give these fallen birds another life is through our Annual Bird Layout, an emotive and provocative display of dead birds collected by our bird rescue volunteers in the previous year. This annual exhibit has proven to be one of FLAP’s most effective techniques for raising awareness and generating conversation over the dangers birds face in our built environment. Since our first display in 2001, we have inspired other bird conservation groups across North America to hold similar exhibits in their communities.
Advocating for Bird-Safe Building Codes
Currently in Canada there are several cities and municipalities that, with FLAP’s support, have adopted their own requirements or guidelines on bird-safe building design. While we applaud these efforts, this piecemeal approach to conserving birds does not reach far enough. To effectively protect migrating birds, bird-safe design must be a mandatory requirement across the country. FLAP Canada is advocating for the adoption of bird-safe guidelines in Canada’s National Building Code and the Ontario Building Code, through targeted outreach, petitions, and meetings with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Members of Parliament. Want to help? Show your support for the inclusion of bird-safe building design requirements in the Ontario Building Code, a measure that would save countless birds’ lives.