Key West The Newspaper

Monroe County’s Key West International Airport is in the middle of installing SOLYX Bird Safety Film on its two glass bridges that cross over the arrivals roadway.

This $25,000 project funded by the airport will help protect warblers and other birds from continuing to fly into the bridges, causing many injuries and fatalities.

The Key West Wildlife Center has assisted airport staff by rescuing or recovering birds that have struck the windows. And since last Fall, airport staff has worked closely with the Key West Wildlife Center and the Florida Keys Audubon Society to find an appropriate solution to this problem.

The result is installing this safety film, a type of window tinting with a horizontal pattern. This gives birds a visual reference when approaching these bridges.

“Key West is a major thoroughfare for migratory birds, and we appreciate the Key West International Airport for initiating a plan and taking steps to mitigate avian window strikes,” said Tom Sweets, Executive Director of the Key West Wildlife Center. “Their efforts should serve as a model for how other local businesses can help reduce this real threat to wildlife.”

The project should be finished next week.

“We anticipate this tinting will greatly reduce the risk of warblers or other bird species from flying into the windows and getting hurt,” said Thomas J. Henderson, Assistant Director of Airports for Monroe County.