Community Chat

[depglass]

I bought some flashing Mylar tape from Amazon that has been working all spring. I have two strips taped to the picture window and it moves in the breeze. But today I've had six strikes so far. I don't know what's different. I hate to take down the feeder that's been up all winter. We are getting more varieties of birds, I guess some of them aren't scared by the Mylar.

[chickenbutt]

This is such a problem. It breaks my heart every time a bird flies into a window. :'(

I've been hanging small things off the windows where this happens - like tiny wind chimes I have and other things I've had over the years that I can hang on those little round clear things that stick to the window and allow you to hook something on it.

Seems like as long as something is there it works. It might not look the best but I'd rather that than have this happen to the poor birdies.

[sciencegeek_1]

Well, I probably wouldn't recommend this, but I haven't washed my windows in a couple of years. The birds can definitely see my windows!

[CamilleP]

We have a huge wall of windows in our 70's era cathedral ceiling'ed great room. DH loved the large expanse of glass, I knew what was coming. That first autumn we had a couple of bird strikes, and I dreaded the following spring and summer. The first winter we had very cold weather and a heating bill that had DH tearing his hair out! We put up Hunter-Douglas blinds on the windows as soon as we could get them custom-made to fit, and voila, heating bills went down and as a side effect, no more birds hitting the windows and breaking their necks, poor things! My advice for you is to hang curtains, even if they are lace and you don't need insulation. Anything that makes your window look solid instead of clear will let birds know not to try to fly through it. Of course, if birds are flying away from predation by hawks or falcons, they might not be able to avoid hitting something, but if they are just mistaking your window for clear air, curtains of some sort will put a stop to that. Good luck!

[depglass]

I like the "don't wash the widows" hint the best. But since I have no curtains in here (log cabin), I will try some sort of window treatment on that particular window. Its going to require some thought.

[J Town Girl]

We also had a couple of birds hit one of our larger windows near our front door. I went to Wild Birds Unlimited and purchased a decal of a hummingbird that you apply to the window. It's almost transparent to the human eye but the birds see it differently. Since putting it up we haven't had any more birds hit the window.

If you do not have a WBU store in your area you can purchase it from their website. I believe it was around $4.00. A small amount for such a valuable item. Our wild birds are so wonderful I can't stand to see any of them hurt.

[cater]

I think I will send for that and put it on one of my big windows. I do windows every other week. I know goofy but I love clean windows.

[aubnwa01]

My patio slider seems to be where the bird strikes occur, on the sliding part, since the rest is covered with shutters during the day. My windows don't stay clean, because i have a birdbath out in the yard & watching the birds, bunnies & other critters out there is "Kitty TV" to entertain my cat & she leaves nose prints on the inside.

Sometimes, the birds just knock themselves silly & once they get over the shock, they get up, shake their heads & fly off, but I've had quite a few that didn't survive & died while i watched them, hoping they'd get up, but didn't. I didn't want to rush out there & stress the poor things any more than they already were, by hovering over them or trying to scoop them up.

I had a strange one last fall (for me, anyway) when I heard a giant thud & knew something much larger than my usual doves & house finches & such had hit the patio slider & when I went to see what it was, I saw a large bird, which I think was a peregrine falcon, in a heap of feathers on my doormat. It sat there stunned for a few seconds & then, got up & flew off over the wall. It wasn't until I got to the patio door, that I saw a male Gambel's Quail off to the side on my patio, shuddering & breathing its last. When I picked it up, I noticed it had puncture marks on its chest, so I guess the falcon has already snagged it & then, flew into my patio door....kaboom. I chucked the dead quail over the wall, hoping the falcon would retrieve its dinner that it worked so hard for, but don't know if it did or not. If not, I'm sure something else got a free meal out of it, nothing ever goes to waste in the desert.

[aubnwa01]

I just ordered a couple of sets of the Window Alerts decals (hummingbirds & butterflies) from Amazon, so I'll see if it helps. Thank you to the poster who recommended them!

[dex]

I was told that the birds that repeatedly crash into the window have a nest nearby and they see their reflection and think it is another bird after their eggs so they are actually attacking.