Avoidance and Minimization Measures

This page is dynamic as partners actively engage to improve it. The purpose of the page will be to house known activity and species-specific beneficial practices for birds. Having this repository of measures has for some time been identified as a critical need for a number of agencies and organizations. These measures can be used by the general public, federal and state agencies, industry and others seeking to avoid and minimize impacts to birds in their daily activities.

For more information on common known sources of impacts to birds, please refer to these sources:

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Threats to Birds webpages

Nationwide Beneficial Practices

Avoiding harm to migratory birds (2019) – This government of Canada website offers guidelines and information to reduce risk to birds from human-induced mortality including information on nesting periods and beneficial management practices.

Nationwide Avoidance and Minimization Measures – This is a list of standard conservation measures that can be employed at all construction projects nationwide. These are simple, low to no cost measures that will help to protect all birds and their resources regardless of the type or location of the activity.

Solutions to Bird Collisions – The Bird Collision Prevention Alliance is a coalition of agencies, conservation groups, scientists, architects, industry leaders, healthcare professionals, and engaged community members committed to making our built environment safer for birds. Since 2024, they have worked together to promote innovative glass treatments, responsible lighting practices, and collaborative action.

Activity-Specific Beneficial Practices

Aircraft

Aircraft – This U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service webpage outlines the various risks to birds and people from aircraft-bird conflicts and suggest measures that can be taken to minimize these risks.

Building, Glass & Lighting

Reducing Bird Collisions with Buildings and Building Glass (2016) – The purpose of this document is to provide straightforward, best-known approaches for reducing bird collisions with buildings and building glass through building occupant measures, simple low cost actions, and strategies for new buildings, building renovations and building retro-fits. The document was developed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Program in coordination with a number of partners, including experts in the field of glass collisions.

Best practices for data collection in studies of bird-window collisions (2014) – This document addresses the common pitfalls that limit the applicability of these data to large-scale bird-window collision studies and suggest best practices for monitoring of bird collisions at windows that avoid these pitfalls.

American Bird Conservancy (ABC) Glass Collision Solutions – This page highlights the work ABC is doing to help educate others about glass collision impacts on birds and how avoid and minimize these impacts. The site includes information about products and measures that architects, planners, developers and the general public can apply to avoid and reduce glass collision impacts on birds.

Communication Towers

Recommended Best Practices for Communication Tower Design, Siting, Construction, Operation, Maintenance and Decommissioning (2018) – This U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service document provides suggested best practices can be utilized for communication tower siting, design and operations to help minimize or avoid impacts to birds.

Tower Owners: Save Birds! Save Money! (2017) – This Federal Communications Commission comprehensively covers all the latest information and resources to help tower owners reduce impacts to migratory birds while also saving on operations and maintenance costs.

Opportunities to Reduce Bird Collisions with Communications Towers While Reducing Tower Lighting Costs (2017) – This Federal Communications Commission (FCC) document outlines FCC and FAA guidance for how tower owners can ensure tower lighting is bird-safe, while also reducing construction and maintenance costs to tower owners. Please also see the related document, Migratory Bird Conservation Opportunities for Communication Towers Fact Sheet (2016).

Songbird Saver Tool – Use this free app on any desktop computer, cell phone, tablet or laptop to help save songbirds from collisions with communication towers.

Electric Utilities

Eagle Risk Framework A Practical Approach for Power Lines (2018) – The Avian Power Line Interaction Committee (APLIC) developed this document for utilities seeking to address risks to eagles from interactions with utility infrastructure, specifically power lines.

Best Management Practices for Electric Utilities in Sage-Grouse Habitat (2015) – This manual identifies best practices and provides specific guidance to help electric utilities, electric cooperatives, federal power administrations, wildlife agencies, and other stakeholders protect sage-grouse and their habitats.

Developing Power Pole Modification Agreements for Compensatory Eagle Mitigation for Wind Energy Projects (2014) – This document provides considerations and guidance for electric utilities, wind companies, and agencies working on power pole modification agreements for compensatory mitigation for eagle take at wind facilities.

Reducing Avian Collisions with Power Lines: The State of the Art in 2012 (2012) – This document offers electric utilities and cooperatives, federal power administrations, wildlife agencies, and other stakeholders with specific guidance for reducing bird collisions with power lines based on the most current published science and technical information.

USFWS and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) – Avoiding Osprey and Energy Infrastructure Conflicts: Information and Resources for Utilities Version (2011) – The USFWS and NGPC developed this guidance document to ensure that problematic Osprey nests are recognized and managed in a proactive, consistent and lawful manner in Nebraska. Ospreys benefit from the presence of power lines by using distribution poles and transmission structures for nesting. However, the bulky nests often cause power outages when sticks interfere with electrical equipment. These guidelines are intended to inform managers of regulations and protocols for addressing problematic osprey nest situations: they are not regulatory in themselves and they are not intended to supplant onsite review or consultation.

Suggested Practices for Avian Protection on Power Lines: The State of the Art in 2006 (2006) – This document provides a summary of information and best practices to help utilities understand avian and powerline interactions, and assist them in complying with federal laws and protecting and enhancing avian populations, while maintaining the reliability of electric power networks.

Avian Protection Plan (APP) Guidelines (2005) – The APP Guidelines provide a framework along with principles and examples to aid utilities in their development of an APP. An Avian Protection Plan is a utility-specific program designed to reduce the operational and avian risks that result from avian interactions with electric utility facilities.

Fishing

Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (2018) – The objective of this Agreement is to achieve and maintain a favorable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels in the Southern Hemisphere. The agreement requires that State or regional economic integration organisation that are party to this Agreement take measures, both individually and together, to achieve this objective. The Agreement suggests measures that can be taken to achieve the objectives outlined in the Agreement. One action is to support the implementation of the actions elaborated in the FAO International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries which complement the objectives of this Agreement.

NOAA Fisheries Seabird Conservation Measures for Commercial Fishing – This quick-reference guidance developed by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA) provides some simple conservation measures that can be applied during long-line fishing activities to avoid and minimize impacts to seabirds.

Bird Bycatch Solutions for Fisheries Sustainability – This comprehensive manual provides a wealth of information on seabird ecology, how seabirds interact with fisheries and how to reduce bycatch of seabirds, how to evaluate seabird bycatch under frameworks such as Marine Stewardship Council certification, and seabird protection and conservation.

Oil & Gas

Best Management Practices (BMP) for reducing the risk of direct wildlife mortality (2012) – This BLM Memorandum covers BMPs for the following five fluid mineral practices:1. Open Pits and Tanks Containing Freestanding Liquids; 2. Chemical Tank Secondary Containment; 3. Pit, Tank, and Trench Entrapment Hazards; 4. Exhaust Stacks; and 5. Wire Enclosure Fences for Well Pads or Production Facilities and Associated Rights-of-way.

U.S. Fish and Widlife Service, Reserve Pit Management: Risk to Migratory Birds (2009) – This document is intended to help U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) employees and other natural resource managers understand reserve pits, their uses, associated mortality risk to birds and other wildlife, and alternatives to the use of reserve pits in drilling for oil and gas.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Minimizing Risk to Migratory Birds in Oil & Gas Facilities – This website provides video guidance for oil and gas facility managers and staff, as well as information for all audiences discussing the potential risks certain infrastructure at oil & gas facilities pose to migratory birds, and solutions for avoiding and minimizing these risks.

Open Pipes

Reducing Preventable Wildlife Mortalities BLM IM 2016-023 (2016) – This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides policy to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) personnel for reducing the likelihood of adverse impacts to wildlife (migratory birds, bats, reptiles and other wildlife) from open, uncapped hollow pipes or tube-like structures that are less than 12 inches in diameter.

Solar

Birds and Solar Energy Best Practice Guidelines (2015) – The Birds and Renewable Energy Specialist Group (BARESG), convened by BirdLife South Africa and the Wildlife and Energy Programme of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, has proposed the guidelines and monitoring protocols in this document for evaluating utility-scale solar energy development proposals.

Preventing Bird Deaths at Solar Power Plants, Part 1 (2014) – This Renewable Energy World article discusses the issues surrounding bird deaths at solar facilities, and how to avoid and minimize them.

Preventing Bird Deaths at Solar Power Plants, Part 2 (2014) – Part 2 of the Renewable Energy World article discusses lists more bird deterrant techniques and summarize the action plan that one solar company decided to take to avoid bird impacts at their facilities.

Vehicles

Road Vehicles – This U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service webpage outlines the various risks to birds from road vehicles and identifies some suggested measures that can be taken to minimize these risks.

Wind Energy

Bird-Smart Wind Energy (2019) – This document developed by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) describes six “Bird-smart Principles” to follow for wind development projects.

Wind Energy: Great Lakes Regional Guidelines (2018) – The recommendations summarized on this website represent the first in-depth, evidence-based synthesis of recent scientific information for birds, bats, Great Lakes waters, Great Lakes shorelines, forest, grasslands, inland wetlands, riparian areas, and agricultural lands related to wind energy development in the Great Lakes region. They provide specific guidance for siting and operating wind turbines to minimize impacts on these taxa and ecological systems.

Guidelines for Information Requirements for a Renewable Energy Construction and Operations Plan (2016) – This document provides guidance on the information requirements for a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) renewable energy activities on a commercial lease, as required by 30 CFR Part 585. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is providing these guidelines to clarify and supplement information requirements for COP submittals. Specifically, the purpose of this document is to provide guidance on survey requirements, project-specific information, and information to meet the requirements of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and other applicable laws and regulations.

Developing Power Pole Modification Agreements for Compensatory Eagle Mitigation for Wind Energy Projects (2014) – The guidance document at the bottom of the page provided at this link was developed by APLIC to help provide considerations and guidance for electric utilities, wind companies, and agencies working on power pole modification agreements for compensatory mitigation for eagle take at wind facilities.

Best Management Practices for Electric Utilities in Sage-Grouse Habitat (2015)- This Avian Power Line Interaction Committee (APLIC) manual identifies best practices and provides specific guidance to help electric utilities, electric cooperatives, federal power administrations, wildlife agencies, and other stakeholders protect sage-grouse and their habitats.

Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance (2013) – This U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Guidance provides specific in-depth guidance for conserving Bald and Golden Eagles in the course of siting, construction and operation of wind energy facilities.

US Fish & Wildlife Service Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines (2012)- These voluntary Guidelines provide a structured, scientific process for addressing wildlife conservation concerns at all stages of land-based wind energy development. They also promote effective communication among wind energy developers and federal, state, and local conservation agencies and tribes. When used in concert with appropriate regulatory tools, the Guidelines form the best practical approach for conserving species of concern.

US Fish & Wildlife Service Wind Energy Website – This website provides information and guidance to wind energy developers for gaining a better understanding of the Wind Energy Guidelines, along with other resources and tools available to help avoid and minimize impacts to birds during the project siting, operation and maintenance process.

Wind power siting, incentives, and wildlife guidelines in the United States (2007) – This report details the current status of wind siting regulations, incentives for wind energy development, and wind siting guidelines for wildlife issues in the United States. In addition, a review was conducted on which states had “little NEPA’s” (state environmental policy acts with similar environmental assessment provisions to the National Environmental Policy Act) to determine if there were any additional environmental review requirements that wind development would be subject to. The report is intended to provide baseline information about these issues as state and federal natural resource managers assess ways to proactively address concerns about the impacts to wildlife from wind development. The source for this document is Jodi Stemler Consulting, Denver, CO.

Species-specific Beneficial Practices

Albatross and Petrels

Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (2018) – The objective of this Agreement is to achieve and maintain a favorable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels in the Southern Hemisphere. The agreement requires that State or regional economic integration organization that are party to this Agreement take measures, both individually and together, to achieve this objective. The Agreement suggests measures that can be taken to achieve the objectives outlined in the Agreement. One action is to support the implementation of the actions elaborated in the FAO International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries which complement the objectives of this Agreement.

Eagles

National Bald Eagle Management Guidelines (2007) – These Guidelines were developed by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service to advise landowners, land managers, and others who share public and private lands with Bald Eagles about when and under what circumstances the protective provisions of the Eagle Act may apply to their activities. The Guidelines are intended to help people minimize such impacts to Bald Eagles, particularly where they may constitute “disturbance” which is prohibited by the Eagle Act.

Guidance for Use of Cameras at Bald Eagle Nests – This Guidance provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding cameras that provide live coverage of nesting bald eagles.

Osprey

USFWS and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) – Avoiding Osprey and Energy Infrastructure Conflicts: Information and Resources for Utilities (2011) – The USFWS and NGPC developed this guidance document to ensure that problematic Osprey nests are recognized and managed in a proactive, consistent and lawful manner in Nebraska. Ospreys benefit from the presence of power lines by using distribution poles and transmission structures for nesting. However, the bulky nests often cause power outages when sticks interfere with electrical equipment. These guidelines are intended to inform managers of regulations and protocols for addressing problematic osprey nest situations: they are not regulatory in themselves and they are not intended to supplant onsite review or consultation.

Sage-Grouse

Shorebirds

Guidance and Best Practices for Evaluating and Managing Human Disturbances to Migrating Shorebirds on Coastal Lands in the Northeastern United States (2019) – Managers recognize human disturbance as a serious threat facing shorebirds throughout their annual cycle. Yet, most of the current research and management of human disturbance on shorebirds focuses on the breeding season. To address this gap, Virginia Tech and US Fish and Wildlife Service developed “Guidance and Best Practices for Addressing Human Disturbance to Shorebirds at Fall Migratory Stopover Sites” for the Northeastern U.S. Utilizing a transdisciplinary approach, integrating social, ecological, and stakeholder knowledge to create the document allowed for a more comprehensive set of guidelines, with the goal of wider utility for managers. The document includes: (1) a consensus definition of human disturbance to shorebirds, developed through manager and scientist input; (2) a review of the state of the ecological and social knowledge for 14 priority disturbance types that affect migratory shorebirds; and (3) a literature synthesis of metrics used to evaluate disturbance & disturbance thresholds 9 best practices to reduce disturbance field methods for evaluating shorebird disturbance at the site level.