300 migratory birds killed after hitting NYC World Trade Center

Almost 300 birds died and 30 were injured in less than 24 hours after hitting the World Trade Center's glass towers in New York City. 

Hundreds of songbirds died after flying into several of the World Trade Center towers, leaving piles of carcasses lying on the sidewalk. 

The collisions were blamed on the skyscrapers' lights being left on and their reflective glass, which confuses the birds into flying into them. 

Melissa Breyer, a volunteer bird collision monitor for New York City Audubon, counted 291 dead birds on Tuesday morning within 65 minutes of walking around WTC Three and Four. 

She told the New York Post that she typically only sees 15 to 20 birds on her trips, but was shocked to find 291 near the bases of One, Three, Four, and Seven World Trade Centers. 

'I was totally shocked. It was an overwhelming thing,' she told the New York Post. 'I looked around and it was like a nightmare.' 

Similar issues have plagued other skyscrapers in Manhattan during the annual migration season, as well as other cities including Chicago which are famed for their high density of tall buildings.  

The number excludes the poor birds who were smashed or swept away. 

Birds frequently hit the World Trade Center towers due to the reflection on the glass. Glass doesn't look solid to birds, causing the animals to become disoriented by the lights. 

Breyer is calling for World Trade Center operators to turn off the lights at night during migration season - late summer through fall - or treat the glass to look solid by installing decals.