Daniel Klem, Jr.
Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology | Muhlenberg College
Allentown, PA, UNITED STATES
Daniel Klem, Jr. specializes in ornithology and avian conservation.
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Biography
Daniel Klem, Jr. a graduate of Wilkes College in 1968 and Professor of Biology at Muhlenberg College, where he has taught since 1979 and where he has specialized in ornithology and avian conservation. Klem has spent more than four decades inspiriting students with a love of learning and research as well as an abiding concern for the health of the earth and all its creatures. His special interest involves the encounter between birds and humans in general, and the unfortunate daily encounter between birds and plate glass windows in particular causing billions of bird deaths a year.
Areas of Expertise (7)
Animal Behaviour
Conservation
Ecology
Evolution
Ornithology
Natural History of Animals
Wildlife Mortality
Accomplishments (6)
Pennsylvania Ornithological Society Conservation Award (professional)
2008-01-01
Pennsylvania Ornithological Society Conservation Award (2008)
Detroit Audubon Society Conservation Leadership Award (professional)
2007-01-01
Detroit Audubon Society Conservation Leadership Award (2007)
Warden's Award from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association (professional)
2000-01-01
Warden's Award from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association (2000)
Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) Service Award (professional)
Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) Service Award
Lindback Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence from Muhlenberg College (professional)
Lindback Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence from Muhlenberg College
Award for Best Paper Using Microscopic Techniques (professional)
Darbaker Award from Pennsylvania Academy of Science
Education (4)
Wilkes College: B.A., Biology
Hofstra University: M.A., Biology
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale: Ph.D., Zoology
Wilkes University: D.Sc., Science
Affiliations (15)
- American Birding Association
- American Ornithologists’ Union
- Association of Field Ornithologists
- Colonial Waterbirds Society
- Cooper Ornithological Society
- Eastern Bird-Banding Association
- Ecological Society of America
- Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association
- Hawk Migration Association of North America
- Northeastern Bird-Banding Association
- Pennsylvania Society of Ornithology
- Raptor Research Foundation
- Sigma Xi
- The Wetlands Institute
- The Ornithological Council
Links (1)
Media Appearances (8)
The invisible killer threatening millions of migrating birds
BBC News online
2014-05-21
The collisions are particularly worrying because they are indiscriminate, says Daniel Klem, professor of ornithology and conservation biology at Muhlenberg College. He pioneered the study of window strikes four decades ago and found the fittest members of the population were just as likely to die in this way as weaker birds. "You may be killing some very important members of the population that would be instrumental in maintaining its health," he says. Klem has watched glass proliferate as a building material, even in bird conservation areas. "We have some of our most prestigious ornithologists working on conservation issues who work in buildings that are palatially covered with glass," he says, frustrated that some architects and developers seem unaware of the issue. "My suspicion is that this is very unfriendly or uncomplimentary to them - dead and dying, and it's associated with their products." For those who want to prevent collisions on their buildings, the options, so far, have been limited.
How Better Glass Can Save Hundreds of Millions of Birds a Year
National Geographic online
2014-11-14
People usually escape with only a bruised ego. But when birds smack into windows, the results can be deadly. In fact, as many as 600 million birds die in window collisions in the U.S. and Canada every year, scientists estimate. We may hear only the occasional thump as a sparrow or robin crashes into our home or office window, but they add up. These collisions kill more birds than oil spills or pesticides do, says Daniel Klem Jr., an ornithologist at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The spring and fall migration periods are particularly deadly, with large flocks of birds navigating cities and suburbs that are littered with windows. Klem has been working on the problem since the 1970s, but he's in rare company. Lack of funding and a limited understanding of how birds see are the main reasons why scientists, politicians, and the public seem to be playing catch-up.
Stop blaming cats: As many as 988 million birds die annually in window collisions
Washington Post online
2014-02-03
The total for window kills isn’t the whole story, though, says ornithologist Daniel Klem Jr. of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., who did the earlier calculation: “The moral imperative of preventing even one unwanted and unintended death of these utilitarian and aesthetically pleasing creatures is, or should be, compelling enough.”
This One's for the Birds
MACLEAN'S Canada's National Magazine print
2011-05-23
“Except for habitat destruction, collisions with clear and reflective sheet glass and plastic cause deaths of more birds than any other human-related avian mortality factor,” writes Daniel Klem, an ornithologist at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. Klem estimates that a million birds die each year in Toronto—and three million die in Canada—from crashing into buildings. Worldwide, he says, that number is in the billions.
Windows: A Clear Danger for Birds
NPR Morning Edition radio
2006-01-03
No one knows what birds see when they look out at the world, says ornithologist Daniel Klem, but he's sure they don't see glass. He estimates that at least 1 billion birds are killed by flying into windows every year in the United States. "It's a very common phenomenon," said Klem. "Birds are deceived. They just don't see glass as a barrier and this is a problem for them." Klem, a professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., first learned about the "window hit" problem 30 years ago from a teacher.
Fatal Reflections
Philadelphia Inquirer magazine print
2003-05-11
pp. 13-17
Research Focus (1)
Research and Teaching Interests
Ornithology, Human-associated avian mortality in general and at sheet glass specifically
Courses (7)
BIO 104
Concepts of Biology: Biology of Birds
BIO 151
Principles of Biology II
BIO 245
Comparative Anatomy
BIO 240
Comparative Embryology
BIO 265
Ethology
BIO 255
Ornithology
BIO 380
Biological Statistics
Articles (8)
Bird-window collisions: a critical animal welfare and conservation issue
Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
2015 Sheet glass and plastic in the form of clear and reflective windows are universally lethal to birds. Reasonable interpretation of available scientific evidence describes windows as a principal human-associated avian mortality factor that is an indiscriminant killer of common species as well as species of conservation concern. A conservative toll estimates 1 billion or more annual fatalities in the United States alone. The injury and death from birds striking windows are foreseeable and preventable, but the most promising legal measures and commercial products are not being applied or made available to protect defenseless victims.
Landscape, legal, and biodiversity threats windows pose to birds: a review of an important conservation issue
LAND
2014 Windows in human residential and commercial structures in urban, suburban, and rural landscapes contribute to the deaths of billions of birds worldwide. International treaties, federal, provincial, state, and municipal laws exist to reduce human-associated avian mortality, but are most often not enforced for bird kills resulting from window strikes. As an additive, compared to a compensatory mortality factor, window collisions pose threats to the sustainability and overall population health of common as well as species of special concern. Several solutions to address the window hazard for birds exist, but the most innovative and promising need encouragement and support to market, manufacture, and implement.
Evaluating the effectiveness of select visual signals to prevent bird-window collisions
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
2013 Billions of birds are estimated to be killed striking clear and reflective windows worldwide, and conservation, ethical, and legal reasons justify preventing this unintended human-associated avian mortality. Field experiments reveal that to be effective, UV signals used to prevent bird-window collisions must minimally reflect 20–40% from 300–400 nm. Field experiments reveal 3.175 mm parachute cord hung in front of clear and reflective windows separated by 10.8 cm and 8.9 cm are effective bird-window collision preventive methods. The results of the parachute cord experiment and those of previous studies support the importance of applying collision prevention methods to the outside window surface reflecting the facing habitat and sky. Comparison of field and tunnel testing experimental protocols to evaluate bird-window collision preventive methods suggest that tunnel testing is useful for initial assessment but not as a definitive measure of effectiveness.
Preventing Bird–Window Collisions
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
2009-01-19
2009 Birds behave as if clear and reflective glass and plastic windows are invisible, and annual avian mortality from collisions is estimated in the billions worldwide. Outdoor flight cage and field experiments were used to evaluate different methods to prevent collisions between birds and windows...
Architectural and landscape risk factors associated with bird-glass collisions in an urban environment
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
2008 We studied building characteristics and landscape context to predict risk of migratory birds being killed by colliding with sheet glass on Manhattan Island, New York City, New York, USA. Trained volunteers monitored 73 discrete building facades daily from the Upper East Side to the southern tip of the Island during autumn 2006 and spring 2007 bird migratory periods using a consistent and scientifically valid search protocol...
Collisions between birds and windows: mortality and prevention
Journal of Field Ornithology
1990 Bird strikes were recorded at the windows of commercial and private buildings to study the effects of collision mortality on birds, and several experiments were conducted to evaluate methods of preventing collisions between birds and glass panes. Two single houses that ...
Migration counts of raptors at Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania, as indicators of population trends, 1934-1986
The Auk
1990 Counts of migrating hawks were initiated in 1934 at Hawk Mountain and, except for 1943-1945, have continued to the present. We analyzed the data from 1934-1986 by a standardized sample period appropriate for each species. Counts of several species ...
Bird: Window Collisions
the Wilson Bulletin
1989 Collisions of birds with windows were studied by reviewing the literature, collecting data from museums and individuals, monitoring man-made structures, and conducting field experiments. Approximately 25%(225/917) of the avian species in the United States and ...
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