birds hitting the windows

shellycheval

shellycheval

The Living Force
The sound of another bird hitting the window woke me up this morning. Lately there has been a significant increase in bird strikes against my windows. There were four strikes in three days time a few weeks ago that were hard enough for the birds to stun themselves, one or two a week since then--most not hard enough hits to stun, and two deaths so far this winter. Very weird! Usually I notice one or two a year on average. I have lived in this house for ten years with the bird feeder and food located in the same place, with the same dirty windows--I can think of no change in the environment to account for the noticeable increase in bird strikes. The only thing I suspect has changed is that I'm sure the cracked corn I am feeding the birds these days is GMO animal grade corn--but that also has been around for the last two or three years and is not a solid enough hypothesis of why there are so many more birds flying into the windows this winter. Any ideas?
shellycheval
P.S When the birds are stunned I put a dark soft dish towel over them and place them in a cardboard box in a safe warm place until they start rustling around and let me know they are ready to be released.
 
Anything else anybody sense's or seems different with pets or other animals lately ????????????? :huh: Animals here seem normal.
 
Does it occur at the same time of the day? Maybe it is due to the way the sunlight is this time of the year and the window is reflecting the light like a mirror.
 
Hi shellycheval,

This is a seasonal phenomenon in areas with deciduous trees and seems to be a problem with windows that don't have curtains or blinds. I have put strips of masking tape on the inside of the windows until spring, when the trees leaf out. The tape reduced birds hits to nearly zero, except on bright days when reflectivity is high. Thanks for considering our feathered friends, shellycheval. I have a few wren nests that attract a wren family each year. Their raucous family life and the young learning to fly has been delight for many years.

http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Cardinals-Windows.html said:
Birds Crashing or Flying into Windows

Each year, thousands of birds including Cardinals and Robins die, crashing or flying into windows.

In this case, the bird sees a refection of trees or sky and is unable to tell that the window is a solid barrier.

We as bird watchers need to take every measure possible to remedy this problem.

What do I do to stop birds from crashing, pecking windows?

Decrease the reflectivity of your windows:

1. Pull down your shades: white curtains or blinds can make it difficult for birds to see their reflections.

2. Put the screens in operable windows to make them less reflective.

3. Consider soaping your windows for a couple of weeks during the nesting season.

4. Break up the reflection by hanging something, placing decorative window films, or using 1-inch-wide tape or ribbon to create vertical stripes every four inches on the
outside of your windows.

5. Move houseplants away from the glass and close curtains over windows and sliding glass doors whenever possible.

Create a physical barrier:

1. Build a net frame to act as a barricade by mounting fine-mesh netting (available at garden centers or hardware stores) in a rigid frame, using shelf brackets to hold the
frame a couple of inches away fromthe window.

2. Install indoor-outdoor blinds on the outside of your windows.

3. Adhesive-backed cut-out silhouettes of hawks or falcons in flight to attach to the outer surfaces of reflective glass are sold in virtually all stores catering to naturalists and
birders.

In fact, any shape will work. The non-reflective cutout helps the birds focus on the glass and, knowing it's there, avoid it.

4. If you're a bird watcher and feed birds, consider moving your feeders further away from windows.

While these measures won't guarantee Cardinals and Robins will stop pecking and crashing into your windows, they may minimize the behavior.

One last point This behavior is at its peak during the nesting season. For the most part, this behavior should decrease as soon as the young leave the nest.
Click to expand...
 
Are you getting an increased number of birds coming to the feeders because of colder than usual temperatures over, say, the last couple of weeks? If so, it could simply be that these greater numbers might result in a correspondingly higher chance of window strikes. Also, if the cold weather is involved, some of these birds may be in a weakened state and so intent on feeding that their awareness of the immediate surroundings might be momentarily impaired. You may also be getting new individual birds who are not yet fully familiar with the area (again coming to the feeders because of the adverse weather). Lastly, some birds of prey who feed on songbirds quickly learn that is much prey to be had near feeders. When they attack songbirds and alarm calls heard, instinctively the songbirds will dive into the the nearest bush or any other cover ( perhaps some dark area seen through a window maybe?)

I've also had an increase lately in window strikes and put it down - indirectly - to the extremely cold weather (erm... that should have been my first sentence rather than my last - ah well ).
 
Samy wrote that my windows might be
"soo clean that the birds don't notice them"
Click to expand...
Thanks Samy for your positive assumption regarding my housekeeping but :rolleyes: HA! Not a chance.

That is what is so weird--there has been no change that I can see from the last ten years, except perhaps what Treesparrow suggested--yes, this was happening more during an extended, colder than normal period, and increased predator activity as the hawks also take advantage of the "bird feeder" could also be a factor. There have been more blackbirds than any other species making the strikes and they are often passing through the area, as are some of the Juncos, and there are what appear to be, according to the bird book, some grey-breasted sparrows from out West that seen to have settled here in Maryland. I have put some cutouts on the glass to show the birds something is there and that they should beware. Thanks everyone for your feedback.
shellycheval
 
Hey shelleycheval;

I live in California, and a well known phenomenon is the annual birds-hitting-the windows that happens in late Summer.
The culprit many have said to me is that the Pyracantha berries (little red-orange berries a bit larger than a peppercorn)
ferment on the vine as they age. The birds gorge themselves and get hammered, according to the natives. Then they
hit glass. Once we were at a park this time of year, and a nearby tree was filled with a most inordinate rustling and
squawking that I have ever heard. We could hardly talk. My friend said, "They're wasted," D'oh that fit! fwiw
 
I think Treesparrow has identified the problem--answering the question: Why after 10 years in the same house, feeding the birds—same birds—same feed—same feeder in the same location—why are so many more birds hitting the same dirty windows this winter. Today was the first bird strike in several days—several days of relatively warm, above freezing weather. Today it is in the 20s F and beginning to snow. The previous period of increased bird strikes all happened during a sustained period of freezing weather which is unusual for this area. Normally we get cold and freezing weather for a day or two and then the temperature goes back up to just above freezing. It seems that the colder and freezing weather drives the birds into more frenzied feeding behaviors and they become more careless of their movements.

Interesting nut'n purrsnl --I have heard of birds and animals eating various fermented fruits and exhibiting drunk behaviors—nice to know we humans are not alone!
shellycheval
 
shellycheval said:
I think Treesparrow has identified the problem--answering the question: Why after 10 years in the same house, feeding the birds—same birds—same feed—same feeder in the same location—why are so many more birds hitting the same dirty windows this winter. Today was the first bird strike in several days—several days of relatively warm, above freezing weather. Today it is in the 20s F and beginning to snow. The previous period of increased bird strikes all happened during a sustained period of freezing weather which is unusual for this area. Normally we get cold and freezing weather for a day or two and then the temperature goes back up to just above freezing. It seems that the colder and freezing weather drives the birds into more frenzied feeding behaviors and they become more careless of their movements.

Interesting nut'n purrsnl --I have heard of birds and animals eating various fermented fruits and exhibiting drunk behaviors—nice to know we humans are not alone!
Click to expand...

Also sometimes the birds kind of fight over food even when there seems to be plenty in the feeders, they chase each other off & I have seen some just crash when they fly around a corner being chased, some birds are very territorial.

Maybe the birds that crash have one eye on the one chasing them & hence are not fully engaged on the task of flying their own machine & more or less just get in to trouble, bang into the window, hell some people are prone to walking in to glass doors.

Could be a moral there or something.

Perhaps consider moving the position of the feeder & maybe the frequency of window collisions would decrease.
 
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