Why Do Birds Hit Windows?

by | Mar 26, 2020 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Birds, Nature

*Note: Our assessment of WindowAlert is based on our experiences both from purchasing the company’s product and a complimentary set of decals to try.

Last fall as Rich was walking along the outside of the Cedar Rapids Public Library and found a tiny dead warbler on the sidewalk beneath a large window. Fall warblers are tough to identify but it was a blackpoll.  Why did the bird hit the window?

This amazing bird has an enormous migration from the far north of the continent to the south each fall, with a reverse trip in the spring. The bird Rich found probably was only halfway through its autumnal journey.  Its death was sad and probably could have been prevented.

Cardinal

Cardinal

Occasionally we have a bird crash against our windows at Winding Pathways, and a male cardinal persists in cracking his head against a window at our church in Cedar Rapids.

Bird numbers are declining at an alarming rate for many reasons. Certainly, habitat loss and climate change are taking a toll. Feral cats and windows also kill millions of birds every year. Some of that loss can be prevented.

Why Birds Are Killed by Windows?

According to Spencer Schock at WindowAlert, birds are impacted by windows for two reasons.  First, all year, but especially during migration, birds simply don’t see the glass and assume they can fly right through it. That’s what happened to the warbler. Second, it’s springtime rivalry. The cardinal banging on the church window sees his reflection, assumes it is a rival and tries to chase it off or intimidate it. This behavior is common, especially among cardinals, and usually happens from late winter into early spring. It’s rarely fatal to the bird but can annoy humans inside the building.

How to Reduce Bird Strikes on Windows.

The simple solution for both types of bird strikes is to do something so the animal recognizes it is glass. Here are some ways to reduce window strikes:

  • Close Drapes. But then people can’t see out and sunshine can’t enter.
  • Put something over the exterior window that looks to birds like a barrier or physically keeps them away. Draping the mesh netlike material made to protect cherry trees from birds trying to steal fruit works. The downside is that sometimes birds get tangled in it.
  • Put decals on the windows to help birds identify a glass barrier. We like the many designs sold by WindowAlert. They’re easy to apply, attractive, inexpensive and work well.
  • Eliminate reflection to keep cardinals and other territorial birds from attacking their own image. WindowAlert has a material called Stop Bird Attack. It comes in a spray can that’s sprayed on the outside of the window. The material looks like white flocking put on Christmas trees to imitate snow. It eliminates reflection and can be easily cleaned off the window after the mating season.

 

What to Do When a Bird is Found under a Window

A few times we’ve been sitting in our home and hear a bang as a bird strikes a window.   We sadly find the poor animal lying still under the window. There are two likely outcomes.

dead bird

This bird broke its neck hitting a window.

The bird is either dead or dying and there’s nothing we can do to alter that unhappy outcome.  e bury the poor creature and add more visibility items to the window.

The bird has been stunned and will soon recover and fly away. Often a bird will recover, but while it is stunned it’s vulnerable to cats and other predators. Spencer advises gently putting the bird in a closed cardboard box or large paper bag. As soon as it has recovered, release it outdoors.

Probably the best thing a homeowner can do to help songbirds is to plant a diversity of native grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees to create habitat. The next best action is to keep cats indoors and reduce the odds of collisions with glass using the methods described above.

 

Spring Symphony

by | Mar 13, 2016 | Amphibians/Reptiles, Birds, Nature, Travel/Columns

After an unusually mild winter we were hardly surprised by the early onset of spring’s symphony.  At Winding Pathways in Iowa it usually starts on clear cold  February days  when male cardinals begin their beeker beeker beeker call. They  were close to their normal schedule this late winter. Then red winged blackbirds arrived fully two weeks early and added their voices to roadside ditches and wetlands.

On March 7 we heard the glorious sound that truly harkens spring – Chorus Frogs and Peepers!   We were driving a dirt road through southern Iowa’s Shimek State Forest when Marion heard the voices of dozens of tiny frogs coming from a puddle the size of our car.

Chorus Frogs

To naturalist Joseph Wood Krutch singing peepers heralded a true resurrection and marked the start of the warm season. Living in Connecticut he noted that they always began singing in the period of time in which Easter can fall. In other words between March  22  and April  25 .

That’s usually true in Iowa but this year they are earlier, much earlier.

Most people have heard peepers and chorus frogs but have never seen the tiny amphibians that sing with magnificent enthusiasm. The two species often live in the same places and can be easily told apart by their calls. Chorus frogs sound like a person running his finger along the teeth of a comb, while peepers make the “peep peep peep” calls that gives them their name.   To hear recorded peepers and chorus frogs log in to Manitoba Frog and Toad Calls.

Frogs are far from the only animals that begin calling as winter transitions into spring.   Migrating birds are already beginning to appear in yards, woodlands, and wetlands across America and often they are easier to hear than see. Some of the most melodic singers are the hardest birds to spot, and identifying them by sound is often more efficient than trying to spot a bird in thick brush. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has excellent audios of bird calls for mobile apps.

Experienced birders   (and froggers for that matter) use both ears and eyes to identify species.  Like many birders we started out using printed bird guides to help us learn species. Only much later did we begin learning their calls.  It’s been a rewarding hobby that has a cruel catch.

Each  Rich  would learn  new bird calls when  history caught up with him. Probably due to intense noise of  heavy machine guns in Army training decades ago his ability to hear many sounds, particularly those of high pitches is fading.  Marion can hear birdsong he can’t.  He’s investigating hearing aids that should help him continue this fascinating means of identification.  Stay tuned.  He’ll report on hearing aids later.

USING THE MERLIN APP

For years we lugged around bird books that were either large and heavy or compact but limited in the information they provided. They were the best way to learn new species in the field.

That’s changed thanks to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. We loaded their free Merlin App into our smart phones. It makes identifying 400 bird species a snap. At the touch of a few keys  several photos of each species appear, a range map, and……best of all…… recorded sounds of  each bird.

We still carry and refer to a paper bird book but the Merlin App has become our favorite field tool for identifying birds, especially by their call.

ABOUT THE LABORATORY OF ORNITHOLOGY

We joined the Lab a few years ago and love its colorful and informative magazine, LIVING BIRD, and the many bird tips posted on their websiteChorus Frogs. The Lab has been a leader in bird science for decades and they’ve helped us become better birders and gain new insights into the lives of these fascinating animals.