ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Muhlenberg College professor has won a statewide conservation award for his research into bird deaths from window strikes.
Daniel Klem Jr., director of the college's Acopian Center for Ornithology, on Saturday was presented with the Walt Pomeroy Conservation Award.
“Continuing my conservation efforts, it is my hope that this award will draw further attention to the important conservation issue for birds and people,” Klem said.
“One I have now been studying, writing and teaching about for 50 years, half a century — doing my best trying to save more bird lives from clear and reflective windows.”
The award, conferred annually by the Pennsylvania Audubon Council, recognizes those who have made important contributions to conservation in the commonwealth.
It gets its name from a longtime Audubon contributor who is credited with establishing several chapters and councils throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Pennsylvania.
Klem said he is “proud and privileged” to receive the award.
“I feel especially honored to be added to the distinguished previous awardees, because the namesake of the award, Walt Pomeroy, is a national conservation icon,” he said.
He said he and Pomeroy were born the same year, 1947.
“I like to think I am, in part, carrying on his valuable work on behalf of us all."Daniel Klem Jr., director of the Acopian Center for Ornithology at Muhlenberg College
“I like to think I am, in part, carrying on his valuable work on behalf of us all,” he said.
Klem, who in March published a peer-reviewed study showing bird deaths from window strikes are nearly double previous estimates, and likely higher, received a framed limited edition print of a peregrine falcon, originally created by the Lycoming Audubon Society.
The ceremony was part of a council gathering of Pennsylvania Audubon chapters in the eastern part of the state, held at Muhlenberg.
“We congratulate Acopian Professor of Ornithology Daniel Klem on this award and celebrate his research, innovation and expertise,” college officials said in a statement.
“For decades, Professor Klem has been making a profound impact on conservation efforts benefiting birds, human beings and our world.
“His contributions to sustainable design benefit our community every day, through the award-winning Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, and communities everywhere through reductions in bird mortality.”
‘Conservation issue of highest priority’
Klem was nominated by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society and the Presque Isle Audubon Society, according to a news release from the Pennsylvania Audubon Council.
The council’s executive committee unanimously endorsed his selection.
"The Pennsylvania Audubon Council, along with the twenty Audubon chapters in Pennsylvania, has identified the issue of bird collisions as a conservation issue of highest priority."The Pennsylvania Audubon Council
“The Pennsylvania Audubon Council, along with the twenty Audubon chapters in Pennsylvania, has identified the issue of bird collisions as a conservation issue of highest priority,” according to the release.
Leigh Altadonna, president of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council, and Peter Saenger, president of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, presented the award.
“For over 50 years, Dr. Klem has undertaken diverse avian studies,” officials said in the release. “He writes and teaches about the threat that sheet glass and plastic pose to birds.
“No other scientist has comprehensively studied and published research results documenting and preventing the lethal threat that human structures pose to birds.”
Klem says he considers the council, “all its affiliates and all others that are like-minded to be a team trying to preserve the world's bird life for those who come after us, especially the children, and in so doing be a meaningful part in maintaining a healthy Earth for all life.”
‘3.5 million birds dying every day’
In two separate papers, both published in 1990, Klem calculated that 100 million to 1 billion birds are killed annually across the United States by flying into windows.
However, his most recent publication, "Evidence, Consequences, and Angle of Strike of Bird–Window Collisions,” published in the March issue of “The Wilson Journal of Ornithology,” showed much higher numbers.
“The previous estimate had a minimum of, an easy way to say it, is one million birds dying a day. This study reveals 3.5 million birds dying every day in a 365-day period.”Daniel Klem Jr., director of the college's Acopian Center for Ornithology
“This study offers a new estimate that expands upon previous studies, documenting a far greater threat,” Klem, who is also a professor of ornithology and conservation biology, told LehighValleyNews.com at the time the study was published.
“The previous estimate had a minimum of, an easy way to say it, is one million birds dying a day.
“This study reveals 3.5 million birds dying every day in a 365-day period.”
In 2021, Klem published a book, “Solid Air: Invisible Killer – Saving Billions of Birds from Windows.”
The book “is a chronicle of his research and what we need to do to address the alarming ‘human made’ destruction of birds,” according to the release.
His research has led to tangible change.
Muhlenberg’s newest building, the Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, 2400 W. Chew St., features triple-paned, dotted windows, smaller ones with a film, while the larger ones are acid-etched, to prevent bird strikes.
Klem, who studied biology at Wilkes and Hofstra universities for his undergraduate and graduate degrees, also is a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.
He got a doctorate in zoology from Southern Illinois University.
