Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Hundreds of birds die after striking Ewha university building
A varied tit lies dead on the ground next to the Ewha Campus Complex building at Ewha Womans University in Seoul in this Aug. 20 photo. Courtesy of the Window Strike Monitoring group at Ewha Womans University
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
The Ewha Campus Complex (ECC) building, a landmark at Ewha Womans University, is famous for its architecture, having been designed by French architect Dominique Perrault. The unique structure, connecting the underground and ground levels, made of huge glass windows on both sides of the central passage, has been an iconic landmark.
However, there has been a constant problem with this building over the past few years: birds, including endangered species, are found dead near the ECC frequently, because they do not recognize these windows as obstacles and fly into them.
“When birds collide with windows like this, the main reasons are the transparency of the windows and the reflection of objects in them,” Kim Yun-jeon, a leader of the Window Strike Monitoring group at Ewha Womans University, told The Korea Times.
The group, consisting of five members, has conducted daily surveillance of dead and injured birds on the university campus since 2019.
“Most of the birds that fly into the windows die from skull fractures or brain hemorrhages due to the impact caused by their high speeds,” Kim explained.
The team has been investigating how often such collisions occur. Upon receiving reports of a bird collision, mostly from school janitors, security guards and students, the team confirms and records them on a daily basis.
According to the team's data, a total of 161 birds have collided with windows of buildings at the university from May 30, 2019, to Aug. 31 of this year, and 106, or 65.8 percent of them, were windows of the ECC building.
Among the dead birds were vinous-throated parrotbills, Japanese tits, black-faced buntings and even a northern boobook, which is designated as Natural Monument No. 324.
A yellow-billed grosbeak lies dead on a ledge of the Ewha Campus Complex building at Ewha Womans University in this Aug. 25 photo. Courtesy of the Window Strike Monitoring group of Ewha Womans University
“On the upper parts of the building, bushes are planted and they are reflected in the glass windows, so we guess that many birds can't see them as obstacles that they have to avoid,” Kim said.
The problem of birds crashing into the ECC building is nothing new. Kim's team has continuously raised the problem with the university's management office, but not much progress has been made.
In March, based on relevant data and statistics collected for about 17 months, the team sent a letter of request to the school's management office to take countermeasures, such as attaching specialized stickers on the windows, which are known to reduce bird strikes.
However, in April, the management office said in a written reply that it is difficult to implement such measures without consensus among students and faculty members, because it is a matter of changing the appearance of the building, as well as involving cost issues.
As migration season is approaching, the number of birds colliding with the windows is expected to increase, according to Kim.
Plants are reflected in the glass windows of the Ewha Campus Complex building of Ewha Womans University in this June 14, 2012 photo. Korea Times file
Environmental groups have said that attaching stickers on glass windows can be very helpful in preventing birds from flying into them.
According to data released by the Ministry of Environment and the National Institute of Ecology in 2019, 38 collision cases took place around soundproof walls made of glass in Daejeon for 113 days starting from Feb. 3, 2018, but not a single case was found around the same walls for 113 days beginning Dec. 23, 2018, after the stickers were attached.
However, considering durability and construction costs, the best measure is to design buildings in a way that prevents birds from crashing into windows, or to use patterned glass in the building design, Kim said.