BCC Volunteer Toolkit
Spring 2025:
First day of surveys: April 14
Last day of surveys: June 1
Thank you for volunteering for Bird Collision Corps this season! This is really important work and you’re amazing for doing it. Below are resources created for you to use at any point during the survey period. Contact Brenna Marsicek (bmarsicek@swibirds.org or 608-255-2473) if you have any questions.
Resources include:
Birdcast website for tracking bird migration forecasts
Found a collision? Submit your collision observations: swibirds.org/bcc-bird
Link to complete weekly data report: swibirds.org/bcc-weekly-data
Training Videos
To make the video you’re watching larger, click the open square icon in the bottom right corner of the video screen.
Starting Spring 2025, we will offer training in a series of videos you can watch on-demand anytime before the season begins. We require you watch all six videos below, covering the following topics:
Why bird collisions happen, and how often
How & why the BCC was created
How to conduct your surveys
How to submit your data
What to do if you find a living, injured bird
How to handle a living, injured bird
Precautions to take relating to bird flu
Video #1: The Magnitude and Causes of Bird-Window Collisions
by Anna Pidgeon, professor, UW-Madison Forest and Wildlife Ecology Department
Length: 8:00 minutes
Why do birds hit windows, and how big of a problem is this to birds? Dr. Anna Pidgeon, professor of ornithology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes the number of birds that hit windows each year and why.
Video #2: How & Why the Bird Collision Corps was Launched
by Aaron Williams, UW-Madison Facilities Planning and Management
Length: 11:21 minutes
The Bird Collision Corps has its origins in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Learn how the program got started on campus, how the UW has used the data to better protect birds on campus, and how the program influenced the city-wide bird-safe glass ordinance.
Video #4: Submitting your Data
by Brenna Marsicek, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
Video #3: Protocol for Doing Your Surveys
by Brenna Marsicek, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
Video #5: What to do if you find a live bird
by Paige Pederson, Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center
Length: 03:31 minutes
What do you do when you find an injured, living bird on your Bird Collision Corps surveys? Paige Pederson, Wildlife Operations Supervisor at the Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Center, describes to process of containing and bringing in an injured bird.
Video #6: How to handle an injured, live bird
by Paige Pederson, Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center
Length: 01:21 minutes
This video by Paige Pederson from Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Center shows you how to handle a live bird that has hit a window
Video #7: Precautions relating to Avian Influenza (Spring 2025)
by Paige Pederson, Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center
Length: 2:38 minutes
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is ramping up again in spring 2025, though the risk to humans is low. Paige Pederson, Wildlife Operations Supervisor at the Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Center, describes a few extra precautions to take to minimize its spread.
Where to bring dead birds
It is really important that we keep the dead birds that you pick up through the season. Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance staff, UW faculty and staff go through each bird at the end of the season to verify the species identification, and cross-check the birds with the database to make sure each is recorded. Thank you for helping facilitate this!
Option 1: Keep them at home, and periodically transfer them to Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance staff.
Option 2: UW Russell Lab freezer
Address: 1630 Linden Drive, Madison
GPS Coordinates of exact location: 43.075556, -89.413222
Open/available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Lock combo: 3-2-1
Where to park (image below). Do not park in the red X area. Park in the red P areas. Walk along yellow dotted path to yellow star.
Dashboard sign for temporary parking — Print your own here
Metal bird sculptures outside of Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance office building.
Option 3: Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance Office
Address: 211 S. Paterson St. #340, Madison
Open typically Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm
Directions: Look for the metal bird sculptures out front - that’s our building! Enter main/glass doors, up elevator to third floor, in long hallway go to the left. Office is right across from the bathrooms.
Survey Kit Materials
Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance provides you with materials that helps you safely and effectively handle whatever situation you encounter on your surveys. You can assemble your own kit using the supplies listed below, or you can request to pick up a pre-assembled kit from the Bird Alliance.
Arrange to pick up a kit by emailing Brenna at bmarsicek@swibirds.org. Pre-assembled kits can be picked up at three locations in Madison.
Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance office — S. Paterson St.
Near-west side — Gregory St.
UW Russell Labs — Linden Dr.
Supplies include:
Fabric bag or paper grocery bag to contain stunned/injured birds
Plastic sandwich bags to contain dead birds
Dead/Injured bird slips: Print your own here
Latex/non-latex gloves
Official volunteer card: Email Brenna to get a card
Packing list, protocol cheat sheet and contact list — Print your own here
Bird Research tags
Informational handout sheet about the program and how people can help (in case someone stops and is curious about what you’re doing!) — Print your own here
Optional: Paper data sheet — Print your own here
Optional: Butterfly net or dipnet to help capture stunned/injured birds
Optional: Dashboard sign for temporary parking at Russell Labs to drop off dead birds at freezer — Print your own here
Using iNaturalist
Before you start using iNaturalist: please make sure your location services are turned on. Find instructions for doing this using an Android phone here.
For iPhones, go into your phone’s Settings, scroll down to Privacy and Security, at the top tap Location Services, scroll down to iNaturalist and tap, then select While Using the App.
Step 1: Tap Settings.
Step 2: Tap Privacy and Security.
Step 3: Tap Location Services.
Step 4: Scroll down to tap iNaturalist, then select While Using the App
Tutorial on submitting BCC observations to Naturalist using an iPhone (April 2024)
Tutorial on submitting BCC observations to iNaturalist using an Android phone (April 2024)
iNaturalist Links
Birdcast
The Birdcast website is a great tool for monitoring the intensity of bird migration each spring and fall. Check it out to get a sense for how many birds are on the move, and how many you might expect to find on your surveys: birdcast.info
Bat Protocols
Big Brown Bat found by BCC volunteer. Photo provided by Crystal Sutheimer
The Wisconsin DNR is interested in any observations of bats found through this project. Like birds, spring and fall are common times to observe bats on or around buildings because they are moving from winter to summer habitat and vice versa. They sometimes strike windows especially on tall buildings. Bats are also observed roosting on the sides of campus buildings during the shoulder seasons. Getting these reports can give us good information about bat phenology and what kind of impact big windowed buildings might be having on bats in Madison.
If you observe a bat that has collided with a window, please follow these instructions:
Document it in iNaturalist just like you would a bird, and let Brenna (bmarsicek@madisonaudubon.org) and Heather Kaarakka (heather.kaarakka@wisconsin.gov) know.
NOTE: Never handle a bat with your bare hands to limit the risk of a rabies exposure from a bite or scratch. To safely move a live bat, use another object to gently move the bat without picking it up by hand (cardboard, stick, paper bag, etc.)
If stunned/injured: Contact Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center at 608-838-0413 to go through the steps of triaging the situation and assessing whether the bat should come in for rehabilitation.
Animal Service Officers are available to contain and transport injured bats (608-255-2345).
If dead: Collect and place in freezer as you would with a dead bird found on surveys.
Also report dead/stunned bats either directly to WDNR with the dead bat form: https://wiatri.net/inventory/bats/report/.
Contact
Brenna Marsicek - Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance director of outreach
Email: bmarsicek@swibirds.org
Phone: 608-255-2473
Banner photo by Ivan Lian
