A million dollars is a million dollars, a lot of money even when compared to the $1 billion budget to build the new Vikings Stadium.

So we can understand the reluctance of the Vikings and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority to simply tack on another $1 million to put bird-friendly glass in the giant windows at the ends of the stadium. The Audubon Society and other concerned citizens are afraid the giant windows will cause the death of thousands of birds who will fly into the glass, as birds are wont to do.

The stadium design was completed and the glass has been ordered before the bird advocates started their pleas for different glass, the stadium builders say. The use of special glass, which would have a kind of frosted look that birds could see before impact, would cut back on the natural light in the stadium, they say.

We don’t know if Vikings games will be interrupted by thumping sounds as flocks of migrating birds hit the windows, but we do think that if bird groups want the Vikings to change their design and order new glass, they should be willing to come up with some money for it.

It would put the bird lovers in a much more solid position if they could say to the Vikings, “We want you to put bird-safe glass in the stadium, and we’re willing to help pay for it.”