There are two ways birds die when they collide with glass. They break their necks, and die sooner. Or, the suffer concussions, and, very often, die later, after flying away. I'll bet the Minnesota Vikings football team doesn't know about the concussion part.

It does appear as of Thursday morning, however, that even if they did it would make little difference. The team is adamant about not spending some of our money on stadium glass that would make collisions by birds less likely.

You'd think that the Vikings, of all people in town, would understand concussions.

And you'd wish that the team had more regard for our money. Even after we gave the Vikings hundreds of millions of dollars for their fancy new home it is, after all, our money.

The stadium is designed to feature vast panels of glass. It is to be a glass palace. It is to be, so far, a glass killing zone for migrant birds.

The paper this morning indicates that some members of the Minneapolis City Council are aware of the problem, and understand the use of the bird-safe glass. It could be substituted for regular reflective at the cost of about a million extra dollars. Lots of money, certainly, but if you've been following stadium construction news the Vikings have yet to blink on any extra cost, whatever it might be.

Why do birds collide with window or door glass? Because it is invisible to them. It reflects the background, appearing to be nothing but the habitat through which they always fly, unharmed. There is glass available that contains markings visible to birds but not to you and me. The markings warn birds away. This glass is in use throughout the country; it's not some yet-to-be-tried idea.

National Audubon, through Audubon Minnesota, is collecting petition signatures from people who support use of bird-safe glass. The last count I saw was 45,000 signees, with 65,000 the initial goal. That would be one signature for each seat in the stadium. The American Bird Conservancy, based in Washington, D.C., has joined the effort to change the glass. This is becoming an issue with a national profile.

You'd think both the team and the National Football League would find this embarrassing. We've learned, though, haven't we, that it takes a lot to embarrass this team.

What can we do? Write or call the governor. Write the mayor of Minneapolis. Write your city council member if you live in Minneapolis. You can write your state legislator. You can write or call the Vikings. You can sign the petition. You can help broadcast the issue and need for support of bird-safe glass. Here is email contact information for some of these suggestions:

Zygi Wulf's office in New Jersey, telephone 203-348-2200

email to Zygi is info@gardenhomesmanagement.com

Vikings office telephone is (952) 828-6500
mailto:website@vikings.nfl.net
http://www.vikings.com/footer/contact-us.html
Zygi Wilf Owner/Chairman
Mark Wilf Owner/President
Leonard Wilf Owner/Vice Chairman
Reggie Fowler Vikings Ownership Partner
Alan Landis Vikings Ownership Partner
David Mandelbaum Vikings Ownership Partner
Lester Bagley Vice President of Public Affairs/Stadium Development

Gov. Mark Dayton

http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form/

Telephone: 651-201-3400
Toll Free: 800-657-3717

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/
It's simple to contact the city by phone. Just dial 311.
Mayor Betsy Hodges can be reached at (612) 673-2100

Audubon Minnesota is active in this campaign:
Audubon Minnesota
1 Water Street West Suite 200
St. Paul, MN 55107

To sign its petition go to

https://secure.audubon.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1717

The Minnesota Ornithologists' Union has adopted this resolution:
"The Board of Directors of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union, on behalf of
its members, requests that the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL make every
reasonable attempt to use construction materials that will minimize any
adverse effects on wildlife, as also recommended by Audubon Minnesota."

Do something to help. Call somebody. Write somebody. Call and write everybody. If we make enough noise we can do this. I favor phone calls, hundreds and hundreds of phone calls to the governor and the team. We need to play tough defense on this one.