The Minnesota Vikings just played their first season in U.S. Bank Stadium, and it's one of the nicest stadiums in the NFL. However, the stadium's glass exterior has proven to be a hazard for birds.
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A recent story by The Guardian details how the glass that covers the stadium on the outside offers a reflection of the sky, and birds have not been able to tell a difference between the stadium and the sky.
Jim Sharpsteen volunteered to conduct a stadium study, and he told CityPages he knew the glass would be a hazard.
"We knew that the glass would be highly confusing to the birds," Sharpsteen said. "They see a reflection of a blue sky in the glass, they think it's a blue sky. They see reflections of trees, they think they can land in those reflections of trees. This confirmed what we already believed would be bad.
"We want them to either replace the glass with a less reflective glass or put a coating on the glass that would make it more bird friendly. I think the more realistic would be to apply coating to the outside of the glass."
Conservationists tracked the number of birds affected by the stadium, and they found 60 birds had died by crashing into the glass. Another 14 birds also hit the glass, but they survived the collision.
Animal protection groups released a study which claims the stadium will kill a minimum of 360 birds over the next three years.
The stadium's owners were advised to add something to make the glass look less like the sky, but they declined.
(h/t Sports Illustrated)
