How to Prevent Bird Window Collisions

Birds and Window Collisions

Today many new homes and more modern looking office buildings will use insulated and reflective glass as part of their construction to replace external walls. These very large windows may be very aesthetically pleasing to us humans but more often than not they can be lethal to most birds.

Unfortunately it is extremely difficult for most birds to distinguish the difference between what is the real sky and what is a reflection of that sky in the glass of a window.

Each year just in the United States it has been estimated that in the months of migration, millions of birds will fly at full speed into windows and glass doorways and as a result many of these are seriously injured or killed outright.

Your own can also be a problem and you can help to minimize these collisions by breaking up all the reflections that birds see on the outside of your windows by using a window screen, some flash tape or even bird netting.

Unfortunately, despite what you might be told by sales people or adverts, the life size bird scaring devices such as plastic falcons and owls or even balloons do not work. Neither do falcon and owl silhouettes which you can attach to your windows with suction cups.

The best way to try an eliminate some of the reflections is to plant some trees close by in your backyard and install some window awnings to try and block sun light from hitting the window directly.

However the migration seasons are not the only time that home owners can have trouble with bird collisions into their windows. Birds, especially young inexperienced ones, can often hit your windows during or after the breeding season and also during the winter too when there are no leaves on the trees to block the sun from your windows..

In the breeding season you may see male cardinals, male woodpeckers and male mockingbirds fighting with their own reflections in your windows or even the mirrors on your car. This activity of fighting the windows will cease towards the end ofthe breeding season. It is best to discourage them by putting screens and other barriers across the windows where they fight.

Also be aware that all year and during any season bird collisions into windows can still occur when they are scared off while visiting one of your feeding stations. To prevent this happening just move the feeders a long distance away from the problem windows or put them right close to the window so that when the birds fly away in a panic they will not get up to full flight speed before crashing into the window.

With a little care and attention you can save the lives of many of the birds that you are trying to help by putting out bird feeders and food.