Anybody ever have this problem with birds?

[Dutchgirl]

Last year - I think - there was a male cardinal who, for a week or more, kept bonking into the window. He saw his reflection and thought it was another bird; he wanted to protect his territory, so he fought this stubborn intruder. Finally we were able to scare him away. Now his mate is doing the exact same thing! It drives us nuts and I think she's going to hurt herself, too. We've had smaller, less tough birds die from just one collision with the window; for instance, about a week ago the 8-year-old found a dead ovenbird right below the glass.

Has anyone had this problem? With the male cardinal we had to climb up on the roof and tape deer netting across the roof window before he would stop. Anybody have any other ideas??

 

[aggie9296]

Mine do it to the car mirrors. I think they are going after a competitor. Maybe glass paint to prevent the reflection (like you do on car window for "just married," etc)?

 

[chickenzoo]

Put up a pic of an owl? Anything that would cut out the reflection would be helpful.

 

[Dutchgirl]

Quote:
We tried drawing these haunting owl eyes and taping them to the window before, but the bird just went around it. Only the deer netting worked, but I'm looking for an alternative... I'm not looking forward to taping netting over all the windows and glass doors.

 

[xke4]

A life size plastic owl is working for me. Just be sure to move it every couple of days so they don't get used to it and ignore it.