Garden

[Allegheny]

Not sure which forum to post this, Garden or Home.

A robin has been constantly fluttering around the windows in the front of our house.  It started yesterday and was from daylight to dark.  Today it started again.  We figured it was seeing its reflection and being a male was perhaps was guarding its territory.

We spent a lot of time standing at the windows shooing it away.  As a last resort, I dug out some stick on Christmas decals and put them on the outside of the windows.  We even played predatory sounds.  That still didn't phase him.

Beside dirtying the windows and driving us batty he is not doing any damage.

We've lived here 30 years, have had bird strikes, but never this type of behaviour.

Any suggestions out there to deter him without us spending a ton of money shielding our windows or a psychoanalysist for him?

Thanks!

[2blonde]

I would guess he's seeing his reflection and thinking it may be a potential mate that he can't get to.  Here's hoping you get some single female robins in the area soon!

[Peaches McPhee]

Maybe get some of those black stickers that look like hawks? 

Or, just wait a little while; he'll get tired of it and move on before you know it.

[gizmogal]

Put a dish or cup with a good quantity of ammonia on the outside sill of the window, where this persistent little guy wants to perch. He will not like the smell, and will find a new place to hang out, without your doing him any harm. He’s not going to be breathing pure ammonia out there, surrounded by fresh air; he’ll just know it isn’t his favorite place anymore. Mothballs might work, too, as the smell will be unusual and discouraging. But mothballs will not stay strongly scented for long outdoors. 

 If you use a paper cup to hold the ammonia, put a little rock or some rice at the bottom of the cup to weigh it down so it won’t blow over. If a cup or dish won’t fit, soak a patch of scrap cloth in ammonia and capture it outside by placing it under the closed window frame so it can’t blow off. Same effect, though it will evaporate.

I called a US Dept of Agriculture  Extension office to ask about keeping a nuisance squirrel off the window sill and the above was what was recommended for both birds and rodents. It had the effect to get the wildlife to relocate from my window and it took just a day or so, so I wasn’t refilling ammonia vessels or having to smell any of that once the season required open windows. The thing went elsewhere and did not haunt my window further. 

I asked if bleach was OK, and it wasn’t considered safe because the smell and the chemical are more potent. Stick to ammonia or try mothballs. 

Hope i helped. (I think Garden was the right place to post your question.)

Let us know what finally worked on that silly robin. 

[mjabby]

A couple of years ago we had the same thing happen to us only he/she  was pecking on our basement window. We finally had to cover the entire window (small window) with a sheet of  paper and that worked. Good luck!

[Allegheny]

@mjabby  I wish it was that simple for us.  The whole front of our house is windows.

[Allegheny]

@gizmogal

Thank you so much for the information.  I will try this.  We have almost no sills, so I may have to lightly tack up the cups of ammonia or try the cloth soaked strips first.

[mjabby]

@AlleghenyCan you close the blinds or curtains?

[Allegheny]

---

@mjabbywrote:

@AlleghenyCan you close the blinds or curtains?

---

@mjabby

We have no window coverings.  These are floor to ceiling windows, many of them stationary, we have them slightly tinted for privacy and to prevent sun/heat damage.  

Thanks for reaching out to help.

[Elri]

@Allegheny  Copied and pasted from Penn State Extension!

This is a problem that is most common in spring as male birds are establishing and defending territories. The male sees his reflection in the window and thinks it is a rival trying to usurp his territory. He flies at the window to try and make the rival leave. This behavior is most often reported in mockingbirds, robins, and cardinals.

Stopping this behavior can be difficult. Covering the window so that the bird does not see its reflection is one option particularly if there is a specific window you would like to keep them away from. However, in most cases, the bird will just fly to a new window and start again.

If this behavior is occurring in spring, it is probably associated with territorial behavior at the beginning of the breeding season and once a male has found a mate and has a nest with eggs or young, the behavior should stop.

One exception is with male cardinals who will often keep this up all year long as they maintain year-round territories. An option in this case is to take an old mirror or get a car side mirror and put it out in the yard in a place where the male should find it, and let him fight his phantom rival out there away from your windows