Bird-Friendly Chicago Concerned About Bally’s Casino

Posted on: July 26, 2024, 05:27 AM.

Last updated: July 26, 2024, 05:27 AM.

William Blake once said, “No bird flies too high if it flies with its own wings,” but birds flying around the site of Bally’s permanent casino hotel in Chicago should be careful.

Bird Friendly Chicago, a group including the Chicago Ornithological Society, Chicago Bird Alliance and Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, said the gambling company’s revised hotel plans could pose a danger to thousands of birds flying through that part of the city.

The regional casino operator recently said the 500-room tower will be built on the southern portion of the site, but Bird Friendly Chicago suspects the new location right on the Chicago River could be a frequent bird killer.

Bird-Friendly Chicago Sees Multiple Problems with Bally’s Casino

Due to its location in the Midwest and proximity to Lake Michigan, Chicago is a major route for thousands of migratory birds from hundreds of species.

Chicago is on a vital flyway for millions of migratory birds that travel along the rivers and shores of Lake Michigan each spring and fall. Birds have used the region’s vital green spaces for resting and feeding for thousands of years, before human development created an urban environment full of hazardous lighting and glass,” Bird Friendly Chicago says.

The coalition points to at least two potential problems that could make Bally’s Casino dangerous to birds: the use of clear glass and heavy night lighting, both of which are features of many gambling establishments. Birds don’t know how to avoid clear glass.

“Most songbird species migrate at night. Lights shining into the night sky from urban areas confuse birds and draw them away from their migratory routes, sending them into the glassy hazards of the city,” Bird Friendly Chicago added..

Chicago has a history of bird deaths

Bird Friendly Chicago’s concerns that Bally’s casino could pose a danger to birds are not unfounded, as the Windy City has a history of bird killings. The organization said that 40,000 dead birds from more than 200 species have been found in the Chicago Loop in the past two decades.

One of the worst cases of birds being killed in Chicago occurred last year when nearly 1,000 of the animals collided with the glass building at the McCormick Place Lakeside Center. The Bally’s location could be almost as dangerous.

“Bird strike monitors catch at least 600 birds annually within a half-mile radius of the casino grounds, a number that is likely only a fraction of the actual number,” Patty Wetli reported for WATTW.