More →]]> Known for its substantial collection of Asian and Egyptian art, The Cleveland Museum of Art is nestled into the east side of the city in the Wade Park District.

In 1913, three prominent Cleveland residents, Hinman Hurlbut, John Huntington and Horace Kelley, bestowed an endowment of $750 million dollars to build the museum, all with the intention of keeping admission to the public free.

The centerpiece in the middle of the 75-acre Wade Park was built at a cost of $1.25 million dollars and designed by Hubbell & Benes. The white, neoclassical-style Georgian marble building provides great contrast with the stunning green from the park.

Over the years the museum has had many renovations and additions. In 1971, it was expanded to hold another wing. Marcel Breuer used two-toned granite in his design to break away from the original neoclassical style. In 1983, a library was built to house nine new galleries for all the art.

But the most comprehensive expansion of all is the one of the future. In 2005, the museum’s “Building for the future” project became the most expensive cultural project in Ohio’s history at $350 million. The project brought new east and west wings to the museum property as well as an atrium courtyard under a glass canopy.

Today the Cleveland museum has landed a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. With the help of the Ohio Art Council, the museum is still able to operate under free admission for everyone.

Art is timeless, and as the operators said on the museum’s opening day in 1916, it’s “for the benefit of all people, forever.”

BirdMaster is proud to support the arts and we’re happy to protect the museum from damage as long as it stands!

More →]]> For the state of Oregon, the answer to bird control is using fireworks. You read that right. Fireworks.

House Bill 2432 has been approved by The Oregon House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources to expand the use of using fireworks as active bird control management.

Right now, the bill exists to use fireworks to protect crops and forest products. With an expansion of the bill, fireworks would be used to protect golf courses, landfills, airports and seafood facilities, as well as other properties and buildings as necessary.

Previously, the State Fire Marshall was issuing permits to scare off birds in these places but in 2010, legislation noted that it’s not included in the bill. So the house in process now would move to make fireworks legal.

Animal advocates are concerned about the use of fireworks injuring the birds and other animals in the area. As are we! Fireworks aren’t really a safe and humane way to deter birds from hanging out. If you ask us, there are plenty of other bird deterrent systems that would work!

According to the Audubon, 5,000 red-winged blackbirds died as a result of illegal fireworks in 2010. The startled birds were disoriented in the darkness causing them to collide with trees, cars and buildings. Plus birds can get severe burns and injuries from the chemicals in fireworks, often affecting their abilities to fly, if they aren’t immediately killed. They can also suffer gastrointestinal problems if parts of the fireworks are ingested. And, to top it all off, birds can also suffer hearing loss due to the noise.

Fortunately, the bill is still pending in the house while legislation further discusses it and makes any possible additions.

Any situations with roosting birds should be dealt by humanely relocating the birds without causing damage to any proprieties or harming the bird.

More →]]> It’s the eighth largest church in the world, the largest Catholic church in the United States and the tallest habitable building in Washington D.C.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has been standing proud since it opened in 1959.

Believe it or not, the Basilica’s dome is only 7 feet, making it smaller than the dome of the United States Capital. But its size doesn’t take away from its beauty.

With medieval inspiration, the church was built heavily with masonry walls and columns instead of steel and concrete. The blueprints were designed in order to hold 6,000 people and include some modern amenities.

In all, there are 70 chapels. The Basilica uses art and sacred images on the sides of the church to achieve a Romanesque-Byzantine look. Each arch outside is lined with Pewabic Pottery tile and ceramic medallions on the ceiling, and sitting inside are 14 stations of the cross for the crypt.

Now, if that isn’t impressive!

Inside, the architecture features a Greek style with mosaics to decorate the domes. Some say, it even reminds them of the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice, Italy!

A church this elegant is sure to throw a fantastic party! Maybe you’ve even seen it?

Last year, they held a publicly televised Thanksgiving Mass!

BirdMaster loves a good celebration, so we’ll continue to preserve this landmark and keep it rockin’!

More →]]> On any given day in downtown Springfield, Ohio, there are more crows than people. And it’s becoming a growing concern.

In fact, according to city officials- they’re everywhere! And it doesn’t look like the crows want to leave anytime soon.

With fields surrounding the county, crows have always had a longtime home there. But Roger Sherrock, CEO of the Clark County Historical Society, said that crows have been roosting downtown by the thousands for the last three years.

He even said he estimates that 50,000 crows gather downtown at a time! Now, that’s a lot of birds!

Businesses are beginning to lose hope that something can be done about the roosting. Since bird guano is very acidic, it corrodes surfaces and it has been leaving damage to buildings across the city. Not to mention the amount of bacteria that gets left behind.

Officials have tried several inhumane bird deterrence methods from noise devices to laser pointers with little success.

It’s hard to guess why the birds have congregated there, but Federal Wildlife has said some possible reasons are that the birds are safe from predators in the city and that rural areas are warmer in the winter.

In order to resolve their roosting problem, officials will need to understand how these crows think! And who better than BirdMaster!?

More →]]> It all started with the Centennial Exhibition in 1876.  As America’s first World Fair, Memorial Hall was built for visitors to relish in art from around the globe.

Memorial Hall became a permanent fixture in Philadelphia and today it’s the main building on the campus of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The new museum featured a school of industrial art, which provided classes to train craftsmen in drawing, painting, designing and more.

It wasn’t long before donations started pouring in with collections of furniture, jewelry, glass, ceramics and more. With the growing collection, the museum was renovated and expanded in 1907.

As it stands today, completed in 1928, the columns on the front are made from Minnesota dolomite. The eight pediments on the building were supposed to be decorated with different sculpture groups, however the only one ever completed was by C. Paul Jennewein, Western Civilization. Greek deities and mythical figures were sculpted in polychrome into the structure.

The architecture also dons a series of bronze griffins, which has become the museum’s symbol over the years. Fans of the institution nicknamed the building, the Parthenon on the Parkway for all the way its reminiscent of Greek culture.

Aside from its noteworthy art collections and architecture, you might recognize the museum in the epic scene of Rocky- because those are the famous steps!

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has long held cultural history on its walls and each piece has been thoughtfully preserved. With BirdMaster, the museum’s architecture will be preserved for years to come!

]]> https://birdmaster.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1050 1 https://birdmaster.com/blog/?p=1041 https://birdmaster.com/blog/?p=1041#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2014 16:12:23 +0000 http://birdmaster.com/blog/?p=1041

More →]]> The best part about the holidays are decorations! Trees, windows, streets… and even landmark buildings!

Each year in December we see those awe-inspiring historical buildings beautifully decorated. But if it wasn’t for BirdMaster’s contribution, those picturesque views might not even be there! After all, protecting our nation’s landmarks from the effects of bird guano is BirdMaster’s main focus. Its acid nature deteriorates a buildings structure and causes permanent damages.

We are proud to say that some of the places we helped to protect are looking pretty festive for the holidays!

Providence, Rhode Island City Hall

United States Capitol Building

Statue of Liberty

Washington D.C. Metro Station

Pretty nice, huh?

Send us a picture of your favorite place decorated for Christmas! We’d love to see!

More →]]> Nestled in Silver Spring, Maryland sits a memorial honoring environmental advocate, Rachel Carson.

The Carson Memorial displays thick glass panels etched with the words of Carson’s most memorable writings.

Most famous for her 1963 book, Silent Spring, the advocate’s memorial is causing quite a stir. The book strongly detailed the affects, and her opinions, on pesticides and songbirds. But according to Steve Lapham, who works in the town, her very memorial is what’s damaging to the birds.

Lapham claims the memorial’s glass panels are taking the lives of birds that simply think they can fly right through. Donald Hague, the president of Home Properties who constructed the memorial, seems to think otherwise.

The American Bird Conservancy said that birds are more likely to avoid windows that have vertical stripes that are four inches apart, or horizontal stripes that are 2 inches apart or less. Something that Lapham doesn’t think the construction appealed to.

Each year, it’s estimated that 300 million to 1 billion birds die each year due to a bird striking glass on buildings or landmarks. Birds can’t process how reflection works, so seeing trees in the glass means a continuation of the landscape; essentially, glass is invisible to the bird’s eye.

The fall is when birds begin their migrations and bird strikes are very common during this season. Any architect should know the importance of protecting a memorial or other historical landmark, from wildlife such as pest birds.

BirdMaster knows just what to it takes to humanely protect architectural work from birds!

More →]]> After a devastating earthquake 25 years ago that ruined a section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the bridge has finally been restored. But it seems that the old bridge section, won’t be demolished anytime soon.

The old section is filled with 800 double-breasted cormorants that have nested there and have made it obvious they would rather not relocate. City officials have spent time with decoys, bird recordings and even built special manmade nests underneath the new bridge section to try to lure to the birds over.

But taxpayers are not happy about it. It’s estimated that they’ve already spent $33 million to try to relocate the birds- a very difficult feat, especially after they’ve settled!

It’s likely that the bridge will stay in place long past February as well, because demolition of the bridge section will be halted when the birds start laying eggs. Officials are planning to have the Bay Bridge finished by 2018 if they can relocate the birds.

The city is also thinking about installing bird control netting so the avian population doesn’t increase any more than it already has.

“If we don’t do this our penalties could far exceed the cost, so we’re in a balancing act,” said Leah Robinson, a spokesperson of the California Department of Transportation.

Since cities are developing fast, there is a constant problem with finding natural nesting sites, and transportation bridges are becoming a prime option for birds. They love bridges because it provides reliable food sources and protection from predators.

The San Francisco bridge is currently home to 533 nests and by demolishing the bridge, the nests would be destroyed too, leaving those protected birds without a home.

It is important that nesting on manmade structures, such as this, do not take place, so prevention is key! Birds are better suited in their natural habitats and time and money are needed to relocate the birds without harm.

BirdMaster safely protects architecture and bridges from pest birds and gives them a chance to remain in nature!

More →]]> Spix’s Macaw

Spix’s Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii), also known as the Little Blue Macaw, is a Brazilian macaw and the only small blue macaw. It is a member of Arini tribe in the subfamily Arinae (Neotropical parrots), part of the family Psittacidae (the true parrots). It was first described by German naturalist Georg Marcgrave, when he was working in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil in 1638 and it is named for German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix, who collected a specimen in 1819 on the bank of the Rio São Francisco in northeast Bahia in Brazil.

Hawaiian Crow

The Hawaiian Crow or ʻAlalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae. It is about the size of the Carrion Crow at48–50 centimeters (19–20 in) in length, but with more rounded wings and a much thicker bill. It has soft, brownish-black plumage and long, bristly throat feathers; the feet, legs and bill are black. SomeNative Hawaiians consider the Hawaiian Crow an ʻaumakua (family god).

Kakapo

The Kakapo, also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless, nocturnal, ground dwelling parrots of the super-family Strigopoidea endemic to New Zealand. It has finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct facial disc of sensory, vibrissa-like feathers, a large grey beak, short legs, large feet, and wings and a tail of relatively short length. It is also possibly one of the world’s longest-living birds. Like many other New Zealand bird species, the Kakapo was historicallyimportant to the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, appearing in many of their traditional legends and folklore.

Brazilian Merganser

The Brazilian Merganser, Mergus octosetaceus, is a duck in the typical merganser genus. It is one of the six most threatened waterfowlin the world with possibly fewer than 250 birds in the wild and none kept in captivity. The origin of its name is from its long, sharp-edged beak that has a great number of teeth-looking edges.

California Condor

The California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. This condor became extinct in the wild in 1987 (all remaining wild individuals were captured) but has been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), coastal mountains of central and southern California, and northern Baja California. Although other fossil members are known, it is the only surviving member of the genus Gymnogyps.