and i think it was commissioner antonini who was mentioning maintenance and that seems to me to be extremely important also. up front funding is fine, but the ongoing upkeep of the street is equally as important. last week i made a comment or was it the week before on street trees and how once they get planted, which could be publicly funded or something, it often ends up that the property owner is responsible for maintaining those street trees. and so i think there has to be continual engagement to be sure that people understand and i don't know where the lines are. sometimes they may continue to be maintained by the public and in another instance it may be the private property owner, so that needs to be taken into consideration also. but on traffic calming devices when i was growing up and had my license as a young kid, we had two street trees in the middle

of our avenue. and they're a good traffic calming devices but always had fun, if there weren't any cars coming in either direction to go around the other side and do an s this way or whatever. anyway, you have to be a little careful here. >> just answering your point about involvement of the community, it is our intention in the future from now on we release a plan to keep the community dialogue going and we want -- we express the community that we are available for presentation or working with them on specific projects. that is when the service plan was already released. president miguel: commissioner moore? commissioner moore: there is a strong piece of work and goes hand in hand with the better streets plan that got a lot of praise the other week. the one thing which i am concerned about and not what i

don't see in your work but the interface with public transportation. muni, d.p.w. is currently in the middle of implementing the major bus shelter program which much to my horror is creating absolutely untenable situations and actually taking it away from well designed, well coordinated pedestrian realm into it's got to be here and take it or leave it. and i hope that you will be able to stay on top of not letting that happen. and the ideas really are bringing streets into the realm of people and neighborhoods and car driven corridors and i see something at this point in three instances that does exactly the opposite. i hope that you will be able to coordinate that and be in the driver's seat. >> it is a very good point because as i was mentioning at the beginning the related

planning efforts going on. one is the effectiveness program that's been led by the m.t.a. and it's going to affect some of the mission. so one way we approach it is to take that idea into consideration and left this flexible enough to have a future collaboration about the major corridor. one would be 16 and the other is mission and our interest could be to work with them to have a design strategy. that may be what you are saying. president miguel: i would like to compliment you on this, particularly the cd, makes it much easier to go through it. and the work that has been done on valencia works very, very well as well as some of the other streets. i appreciate your efforts and the idea of prioritizing what

opportunities with other city departments and boshg that's being done and this is not traditional in pedestrian until more recent years. commissioner antonini's remarks regarding center rather than side as far as greening, i like the idea of the side greening, but i have found that maintenance on side greening falls by the wayside whereas maintenance in the center works much, much better. we have some instances in san francisco of very old boulevard situations -- i am thinking in the richmond district and presidio boulevard which is a state highway that is part state, part parks department, part m.t.a. and no one has ever wanted to take responsibility for it until a community group

did and do monthly and sometimes semimonthly work program on it and constantly have to pester the different city departments in order to get even dead trees out of the place. so this has been a constant problem in san francisco and maintenance is by far one of the biggest situations you will have to deal with and plan for in the design as well as the community involvement. >> i think the center median is a good way to go for the boulevard. the other option is also interesting but i agree and the maintenance will start with the community and the community challenge grant that allows communities to apply for money.

>> i want to thank the staff who are here and worked for hard and closely with the community and this shows me the advantage of having the plan and getting the grants. clearly the grants would not have been achieved if we hadn't had the plan in place, so the plan resulted in several million of capital dollars flowing into the city that otherwise would not have happened. so thank you, all, for that. president miguel: the shovel ready concept. thank you, appreciate it. ave secretary avery: commissioner,er ready to start item 10,

2010.0323d shotwell street. >> we are pleased to introduce a document that has been produced in response to the commissioner request in two previous hearing commissions. in the fall of last year you heard a presentation on bird building collision and this past february the san francisco lights out program that aims to reduce building lighting during the migratory season if topic of how wildbirds relate to our environment has been getting more attention locally and nationally. we have had it with 555 washington as well as the buildings before the port commission and naturally there is a pending bill that would mandate bird safe design for all

federal buildings as well as local controls that have been adopted in toronto and chicago. today we are announcing the release of the document and seeking your guidance, commissioners, in how to proceed. staff recommends with today's hearing we open public comment for the remainder of the year and staff would return with the revised draft for you to consider in early 2011 but before you proceed, i would like a summary of the document presented to you joined by the local option and from the audubon society to describe ou bird vision differs from human vision as well as a bit about the local setting on the pacific. after that presentation, we will be treated to a national expert and she presented to you last year and is returning today to describe the causes behind bird-building collisions as well

as a bit about what is happening on the topic nationally. ms. shepherd's present, i'll conclude with a brief review of how these could be applied in san francisco and our recommendations on this issue. first let's begin with what birds see. >> good afternoon, commissioners. some birds, such as many hawks or raptors are considered to have the most -- avery: could you state your name for the record? >> i am noreen wheaton. while humans share binocular vision, like most bards, vision acuitier to ability to

distinguish details of some bird spee 2 1/2 to 6 times better than hue mans and to know how our vision compares with that of birds is difficult and we must use anatomy and behavior to compare bird's ability to see with our own. also, each species vision has evolved differently depending on the environmental conditions in which it survives. so how are other eyes different? for one, most species of birds have huge eyeballs. some raptor's eyes are 15 times the size of ours. we can only see a small portion of the bird's eyes on the surface. if our ice were proportionately the size of owls, they would be as big as baseballs and weigh 2 to 3 pounds. in both hue mans and bird, the innermost layer of the eyeball

is the retina which consists of light sensitive cells, the rods and cones. eyes consist of large pupils and highly curved cornea that provide a bright image to the retina. unlike human eyes, the retina has no blood vessel to prevent shad dose and light scatter. this is a unique avian structure composed of blood vessels and connective issues. and protection is the attached to the optic nerve and the function, al know well known is probably to supply nutrients and oxygen to the record and to aid navigation. acuity or resolving power depends on close, compact thing of the bright light sensitive cone. the packing of these cones in birds is two to five times that of the human eye.

in bird that are active during the day known as diurnal birds t cones are superabundant, but only partially function in dim light is relatively few. in nocturnal birds, light night owls, rods predominant. where nocturnal birds are color bind, diurnal are able to see color. humans lose our color vision in low light or darkness. they have specifically -- they have special oil droplets that function as filters altering the color sensitivity and the same manner as a human wearing a yellow, pink, or another color of sunglasses. humans have only three light sensitive cone pigments and nothing like the oil droplets.

many birds qeyes are not spherical but flattened, fix and strengthened by a bony ring. two sets of muscles attach to the ring to control the curvature of the cornea and the lens. the lens is relatively far from the retina, givering birds a large, in-focus image. humans and all birds have a central phobia located on the retinal surface. ridges are formed on the phobia and it's a concave depression and is lined with very dense concentration of cones. several types of birds have a second phobia and this specialized avian eye structure provides binocular vision and allows them to judge distance and speed quickly which is essential for rapid flight. two phobia may allow birds to see two images of the same

object at the same time giving the bird a 3d picture. birds have super fast vision. the ability to assimilate detail rapidly. this is essential for the quick flight. flicker fusion frequency describes the refresh rate of our eyes just as in flicker or old movies. raptors refresh rate is 75 per second compared to humans which is only 25 per second. also, bird hormone levels change so that in situations requiring rapid reaction, the refresh rate increases and the hearing improves. some hawks, like the cooper's hawk, are use used to veering through tight forest spaces focused on prey, yet these birds migrate through san francisco unfamiliar with the human built

environment. hummingbirds, songbirds, gulls and some hawks, maybe all, can see in the ultraviolet range. and in test drill this is allows the birds to see rodent urine allowing the birds to hone in on the best hunting opportunities. mice use urine to mark their trails which they feed upon. and in other birds this allows them to feed plumage or feathers that makes for appropriate mate choices and communication. birds also have a third eyelid which is the part closest to your nose in humans. this helps clean and protect the eye in high-speed flight underwater and when diving into vegetation. in addition to the tear gland, most birds have a second gland which is developed in falcons like the perigrin to moisten the cornea during breathtaking stoopses that are the falcon's

trade macintoshing. many birds see the world very differently from humans because of the placement of their eyes in their head. when eyes are located in the front of their heads, like ours, objects are seen with both eyes simultaneously, representing in binocular vision. when eyes are situated on the side of the head like this short bird, monocular vision allows the birds to see in front and behind them at the same time and as much as 340 degrees. owls with their amazing binocular vision can see only 70-degree field of view. these fantastic evolutionary adaptations are not entirely surprising when considering the demands of vision while flying through the open air at 20, 30, or 40 miles per hour. yet collisions with human made objects, especially collision

with glass, causes many millions, and up to a billion bird death per year in the united states alone. birds are not able to perceive glass and so are at risk for collision. birds may collide with the reflection during mating season when they are protecting territory and chasing off competitors or when flying to find a place to feed, rest, or roost. dr. christine shepherd will discuss this shortly in more detail. although no studies are currently underway in san francisco, this month a hawk was reported dead a kre lent dump and these bird deaths reported by the public appear to have been due to bird-building collisions. during the two annual migration periods our resident population experiences an influx of

migratory birds. these migratory birds seek seasonal food sources, breeding grounds, warmer climates or longer daylight hour. during migration, particularly on foggy or stormy nights, birds that navigate by the stars and moon become disoriented by light pollution and those that follow the coast can be thrown off course by the effects of glass in the urban environment which may result in bird-building collisions. san francisco is in the midst of the pacific fly way, one of the major migration ways in the united states for songbirds, water bird and shore birds that move from as far north as the artic to as far south as p patgonia. birds need to travel and rest along the way. according to the conservation and development cooperation,

over one million depend on san francisco bay each year. the u.s. fish and wildlife service stated that 50% of the birds spend some time in or around san francisco bay which includes the city of san francisco. and most biologically significant stopping place along the way of san francisco bay is the largest concentration of wintering water birds. they can be seen at ocean beach and along the southern waterfront of san francisco from the springs with sandpipers, marvel godwits, willets and black neck stilts. the san francisco bay region is classified as the class of highest importance in the western hemisphere reserve network. more than half of the diving ducks, sea ducks like the

scooter and the northern ducks like the mallard come to the pay for the whole winter. san francisco is important within the pacific flyway and we have the opportunity to see many kinds of birds. the birds that have been shown in this presentation are by a san francisco photographer and are birds that are seen in the city. next, dr. christine shepherd be discuss the dangers of glass and lighting and preventing bird-building collisions and the standards. president miguel: thank you. >> commissioners, good afternoon. thank you for allowing me to address you. i'm here to talk about what birds and what they mean and why

they are important secretary avery: have k you state your name for the record? >> chris teen shepherd. birds have been part of human culture and have been used to represent some of the best qualities of human nature including freedom, peace, fidelity, and of course, the bluebird of happiness. birds are incredibly important to ecosystems. they have a number of different functions. on the left you see a cedar waxwing eating a berry. without birds, habitats might literally disappear. birds are used essentially to disperse the seed. many plants have very hostile environments at their roots because they don't want competition, so the seeds fall on the ground, nothing happens. they have evolved their seed to

attract birds so that the birds will eat the seeds and take them elsewhere. and birds are critical for not only maintaining the ecosystem but regenerating habitats that have been injure d. and birds consume the enormous quantities of insects and many of them eat their weight in insects per day and this reduces negative insect action on gardens, crop, and forests as well as reducing insect-borne diseases like west nile virus. and unfortunately, many, many birds are being killed by collisions with glass. why don't we see these birds lying all over the ground? that's one of the first questions people ask? and one of the main reasons is that there are many skavrn skavrn jers out there -- there are scavengers out there that recognize this is a good food

source and taking dead birds almost as soon as they hit the ground and occasionally birds that are injured. one of the first things you have to do when you are studying collision is to actually document that and to take bird carcasses that you have acquired from somewhere and put them in known situations and see how fast they disappear because otherwise you really won't know if you are getting reasonable numbers or if most of the birds have gone before you got there. ironically one of the things that has been driving increased bird collision mortality in the last couple of decades has been the movement to green buildings including the leed standards which have been mandated in many cities. we value natural lighting. it saves energy and it connects people with the outside. fortunately, it is actually very possible to have both

natural lighting and not injure birds. noreen just told you how bird vision is in many, many ways superior to ours, but why is it that birds are running into windows and other kinds of glass? why can't they see it? in fact, people really don't see glass unless it's very dirty. people recognize glass by different kinds of symbols, if you would. it's probably very difficult for anybody here to tell whether this is a picture of some trees and a reflection of trees in a mirror or tree viewed through glass. the way that people can tell that this is either a reflection or a transparent window is because we see the mullion and

we understand that right angles mean artificial architecture. birds do not understand that. there is no way that bird has been able to evolve to recognize glass. people learn about it from the time they are small, and every year some number of people are injured when they slam into glass walls and doors. i have done the same thing myself, so i know. if mirrored glass were the primary culprit, san francisco would have already solved the problem because mirrored glass is not in the ark tech's tool box and this is transparent glass. and this is completely representing the habitat that's right outside that window.

birds will try to fly through windows to something they see on the other side. this does not have to be vegetation. if you think about birds flying through cities, they are often going past buildings and sometimes try to fly to sections of buildings or around them as well as into courtyards just because they want to explore that. another factor involved is the passage effect. if you have watched a bird flying into a tree, they don't stop and hover and think about how to get in there. they just zip right into the trees. bird, especially small birds, are very used to flying into small, dark space. these are pathways for them. these are nest flights for them. glass can often resemble the passage way. they see the dark space behind it and this swallow is flying

sideways through a gap between two barn doors that is less than 2 inches wide. this is why when we talk about bird friendly construction, we're so concerned about how big and expansive glass we're looking at. the final issue that compounds the problem is light. this is a picture of the 9/11 light memorial from september of this year. if you look if the beams, all the little white dots are birds. for reasons that we don't entirely understand, birds are attracted to light. primitive humans used to light fires to attract birds in for hunting. what's in a beam of light, birds seem unable to free themselves and keep flying. in this particular instance when this memorial was proposed, the new york city audubon society worked with the manhattan heart conservancy and stay up all

night while this memorial is going and if large numbers of birds become trapped in the beams, they turn the lights out for 5 or 10 minutes. this time they turned the lights off about five or six time. the nice thing about it was that the opinion of everyone in the press and so forth was that, yes, we don't want to honor the dead from 9/11 by killing birds. the appropriate thing is to turn out the lights. as noreen said, as many as a billion birds are killed across the country every year. one of the reasons most people don't really grasp the scale of this issue, i am sure most of you have heard a bird hit a window. almost everybody has. people think this is a rare event. think how many birds have to hit windows for many, many people to have actually been there to experience it.

almost every building in the country killed some numbers of birds. homes are estimated to kill between 1 and 10. obviously large buildings kill larger numbers. as ann marie mentioned, san francisco is address iing conces to other large cities. it is no coincidence as you can see here that chicago is on the mississippi flyway. toronto across the great lakes as of january 1 of this year has mandated bird friendly construction. and originally had voluntary guidance and those became mandatory this year. minnesota is developing bird friendly construction standards. san francisco is there to lead the way. the guidelines that i