Bird strikes on windows have become an issue at RIT, as more glass buildings are being built in contrast to traditional brick buildings at RIT. Birds can hit windows because they are transparent (and they often do not realize that the barrier is present). Strikes often result in mortality or injury to the birds. In an effort to reduce strikes, different types of glass, or amendments (stickers, patterns, etching, etc.), are being developed. These remedies often emit in the UV spectral range—given that birds see well in the UV range and humans are less
likely to see them (or have their view blocked by them). We developed a procedure, based on transmission and reflectance spectroscopy, to attempt to assess these window materials. The fiber optic-based method proved successful in quantifying the amendments made to the glass. While transmission data, theoretically, reveals the
most pertinent information, incident light was not always able to transverse the glass pane. In these situations, reflectance (subsequently converted to transmission) was superior in assessing the amendments (especially in the all-important UV region). Future work will involve testing more types of amendments and observing how birds respond to them. The goal is that the method will help to develop materials to reduce bird strikes.