Anouk Hoedeman
Women of Inspiration
Anouk Hoedeman has demonstrated how one person’s efforts and concerns about an issue can make a difference.
Anouk was concerned about the large number of birds killed by collisions in Ottawa. Each year in North America a billion birds collide with glass. Some survive the collision, but most are injured or die immediately or soon after. Thus, Anouk was determined to do something about it and decided to form a group that would start collecting injured and dead birds that had collided with glass windows. In doing so, she would be able to help injured birds by getting them medical attention. But, perhaps just as important, her group could start identifying buildings and structures in Ottawa that were the sites of major injuries and deaths.
As a member of the Ottawa Field Naturalists Club (OFNC), Ms. Hoedemane proposed to the Birds Committee that it support the creation of a group to monitor bird collisions in Ottawa and to start on a program of research, education, prevention and rescue. As a result, Safe Wings was established in 2014 and became a committee in its own right in 2017.
Safe Wings has been able to recruit more than 200 volunteers. Many monitor sites in Ottawa for injured and dead birds, especially in the early morning hours during spring and fall migration, while others transport injured birds to care. With over seven years of experience, Anouk and her Safe Wings team have been able to estimate that in a typical year, 250,000 bird collisions occur in Ottawa. They have been able to identify many buildings and structures in Ottawa that are particularly dangerous to birds. Safe Wings has established a “help line” that residents of Ottawa and Gatineau can use to report injured birds and to seek advice.
The group works with building owners and managers, as well as homeowners, to make buildings less lethal to birds. Safe Wings has been consulted by, and is working with the City of Ottawa, the National Capital Commission, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada. Anouk and Safe Wings are now considered a source of information and advice concerning ways to make buildings more bird friendly.
Safe Wings was instrumental in the City of Ottawa developing and approving its Bird-Safe Design Guidelines, the core reference document used by local architects and builders to construct bird safe buildings. They also worked with conservation partners, Nature Canada, Birds Canada, the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre and the OFNC’s Conservation Committee to publish the Ottawa Bird Strategy. The strategy emphasizes the importance of birds in the Ottawa area, identifies key challenges to local and migratory birds, and gives details for actions to protect birds. Anouk has also provided input into the City of Ottawa’s Protocol for Wildlife Protection during Construction and the National Capital Commission’s Bird-Safe Design Guidelines and Capital Illumination Plan.
Anouk personally obtained certification in bird rehabilitation which has resulted in her caring for injured birds at her home until they can be reintroduced into the wild.
She has been invited to give talks to many community groups. She has contributed to newspaper articles and has been interviewed on radio and television helping raise the awareness of the bird collision problem in Ottawa and promoting prevention through proper planning.
