About a billion birds die from flying into buildings each year in North America. Suspicions have been that birds may regard the open areas behind glass as safe passageways. Or they may mistake the reflected trees for the real thing.

Researchers would like to reduce collisions, which requires a solid understanding about what makes a bird more or less likely to die by crashing into a building in the first place.

“There was relatively little known at a broad scale. Previous studies were at one small study site.'' Jared Elmore, a graduate student in natural resource ecology and management at Oklahoma State University. So he and his colleagues used a previously created data set of building collisions for birds at 40 sites throughout Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

The first finding was obvious: bigger buildings with more glass kill more birds. But the details were more remarkable. "We found that life history predicted collisions. Migrants(候鸟), insect-eaters and woodland-inhabiting species collided more than their counterparts(同类).”

Most migratory species travel at night, when lights near buildings can distract or disorient(使迷失方向)them. And Elmore thinks that insect-eating birds might be attracted to buildings because their insect prey(猎物)is attracted to the lights. He suspects that woodland species get tooled by the reflections of trees and bushes in the windows. The results are in the journal Conservation Biology.

By understanding which birds are more likely to collide with buildings, researchers can perhaps determine the best way to adapt buildings, or their lighting, to help prevent such accidents. And by knowing risks, along with migration timing and behavior, building managers can better predict when birds are at their greatest danger - and improve lighting strategics accordingly.

Elmore's next project will use radar to help predict bird migrations. " I think that would maybe go a long way in terms of providing information to people, to the public, to building managers, on when they can get the most benefit in terms of lights-out policies."

【小题1】What is the possible reason for birds' crashing into buildings?

A．They didn't see the buildings.

B．They took reflections for reality.

C．They assumed the windows to be open.

D．They considered buildings as safe routes.

【小题2】What is Jared Elmore's study different from the previous ones?

A．It created a new data set.

B．It went beyond national borders.

C．It covered a wider range of sites.

D．I’ll studied some specific bird species.

【小题3】What was the most noticeable finding of Jared Elmore's study?

A．Migratory species travel at night.

B．Birds tend to be misled by glasses.

C．Bigger buildings cause more collisions.

D．Birds living habits give rise to collisions.

【小题4】Which of the following can help reduce bird collision?

A．Adjust the lightening system.

B．Attach radars to each building.

C．Adopt strict lights-out policies.

D．Ban using glasses on buildings.