InventHelp’s Invention Girl saw a commercial today for a household window cleaner that showed two clever birds trick a man into walking into a “streak-free” patio door. The commercial itself is pretty funny, but it plays off a sad reality.

Birds do have a hard time spotting windows, causing them to crash into a window at full speed. The impact can severely injure or even kill a bird. One inventive Ottawa boy felt that something had to be done to reduce these accidents. His solution? An ultraviolet, bird-shaped decal that birds can see but humans cannot.

Eighth grader Charlie Sobcov has loved birds ever since his family took a trip to Costa Rica four years ago. He learned on the trip that many exotic bird species could disappear forever because of issues like global warming. He was later horrified to learn that about 500 million birds a year in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada die as a result of crashing into windows. A large number of these accidents occur when skyscrapers interrupt the birds’ migratory path.

So, for his science project this year, he decided to devote his research to devising a way to save birds’ lives. While bird-shaped decals already exist, they’re normally painted and can block the view. Charlie’s ultraviolet plastic decals improved on this design, and he’s hoping that more businesses and households will catch on.

“It’s like putting a big stop sign in the middle of the window,” he told CBC Radio’s All in a Day. “The ’stop sign’ lets birds know the window is solid, but is nearly invisible to humans.”

We at InventHelp hope to see Charlie’s invention in stores sometime soon!