Why does this one particular bird hate this one specific window so much?
April 7, 2023 9:40 AM
Every year in spring, we have a recurring problem with a bird flying into/attacking a specific window in our house. A) Why is it doing this? B) How do we make it stop?
- The window belongs to a first-story high-ceilinged room, so it's at about second-story height. It's the center window of a set of three identical windows. The window faces, roughly, south-east. The other two windows in the set, and the other set of similar windows on the north-easterly wall, are of no apparent interest to the bird and are never attacked. There is no ledge on the outside of the window. The only thing that can be seen through the window from the outside at the angle the bird would be seeing from is the bare ceiling.
- The bird is an American robin, probably male. I can't be certain it's the same bird every day, and obviously I don't think it's the same bird year to year but the species remains constant. There is only ever one bird doing this at a time.
- The bird spends about an hour in the morning (beginning around 6:30 am) going through a cycle of sitting on our fence, eyeing the window, flying up to flap/scrabble/knock at the window, and then returning to the fence. It does this about once every thirty seconds until around 7:30, when something about the conditions apparently changes and our window is no longer interesting. The performance usually resumes for about an hour in the later afternoon, between 4pm and 5.
- If it's raining or sufficiently overcast, the bird generally does not appear. Otherwise, it happens every morning and most afternoons for a period of several weeks every spring.
- The bird doesn't seem to be injuring itself - the fence isn't far enough away from the window to build up enough speed to be dangerous. So I'm not worried about the bird or about damage to the window - it's just irritating.
- A few years ago, we tried putting silhouettes of hawks on the window, in hopes that this would dissuade the bird. It did not.
- The window belongs to a first-story high-ceilinged room, so it's at about second-story height. It's the center window of a set of three identical windows. The window faces, roughly, south-east. The other two windows in the set, and the other set of similar windows on the north-easterly wall, are of no apparent interest to the bird and are never attacked. There is no ledge on the outside of the window. The only thing that can be seen through the window from the outside at the angle the bird would be seeing from is the bare ceiling.
- The bird is an American robin, probably male. I can't be certain it's the same bird every day, and obviously I don't think it's the same bird year to year but the species remains constant. There is only ever one bird doing this at a time.
- The bird spends about an hour in the morning (beginning around 6:30 am) going through a cycle of sitting on our fence, eyeing the window, flying up to flap/scrabble/knock at the window, and then returning to the fence. It does this about once every thirty seconds until around 7:30, when something about the conditions apparently changes and our window is no longer interesting. The performance usually resumes for about an hour in the later afternoon, between 4pm and 5.
- If it's raining or sufficiently overcast, the bird generally does not appear. Otherwise, it happens every morning and most afternoons for a period of several weeks every spring.
- The bird doesn't seem to be injuring itself - the fence isn't far enough away from the window to build up enough speed to be dangerous. So I'm not worried about the bird or about damage to the window - it's just irritating.
- A few years ago, we tried putting silhouettes of hawks on the window, in hopes that this would dissuade the bird. It did not.
the condition that's changing is probably the light, which sometimes shows the bird its own reflection. You can put up some peel off window film.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:47 AM on April 7, 2023
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:47 AM on April 7, 2023
Yep, it's a territorial thing. Bluebirds are notorious for this, but robins have the same behavior. I have a bluebird that comes and attacks this one specific window every Spring.
The only solution I've found is to eliminate the reflection completely, sometimes an outside screen will do the trick, but not always.
The Audubon Society recommends putting cloudy-white plastic over the window, not aesthetically pleasing, but will take care of the problem.
posted by jeremias at 9:54 AM on April 7, 2023
The only solution I've found is to eliminate the reflection completely, sometimes an outside screen will do the trick, but not always.
The Audubon Society recommends putting cloudy-white plastic over the window, not aesthetically pleasing, but will take care of the problem.
posted by jeremias at 9:54 AM on April 7, 2023
Just anything so he can't see his reflection, ie That Bastard Trying To Take My Girl.
I've used whatever random shit I had on hand for a backyard window, but in a front-facing I have used some of this matte frost film on the outside of the glass.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:55 AM on April 7, 2023
I've used whatever random shit I had on hand for a backyard window, but in a front-facing I have used some of this matte frost film on the outside of the glass.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:55 AM on April 7, 2023
Removable stickers dotting the glass here and there will also work, if you don't want to cover your whole window.
posted by coffeecat at 10:26 AM on April 7, 2023
posted by coffeecat at 10:26 AM on April 7, 2023
If you check the web or go to your local bird shop, you should find decorative, nearly transparent stickers that you can apply to the window to interrupt his reflection. They sometimes call this kind of thing "bird safety film," and it's actually part of the building code in some places, to make windows less dangerous for birds.
Read lots more about this from the American Bird Conservancy, including how closely you should space the stickers, or other solutions. Bird collisions are very common and very bad for birds.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:40 AM on April 7, 2023
Read lots more about this from the American Bird Conservancy, including how closely you should space the stickers, or other solutions. Bird collisions are very common and very bad for birds.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:40 AM on April 7, 2023
These sorts of stickers work far far better if they are on the outside of the window.
posted by leslies at 11:42 AM on April 7, 2023
posted by leslies at 11:42 AM on April 7, 2023
We used this Amazon product called Bird Blinder Triple Thick Repellent Scare Tape about 5 years ago to keep birds from nesting right over our front door. I suspect your mileage may vary from our situation, so this is purely FYI.
posted by forthright at 11:45 AM on April 7, 2023
posted by forthright at 11:45 AM on April 7, 2023
Useful info on window stickers can be found courtesy of Bird Safe Guelph (and endorsed by False Knees).
posted by hydrophonic at 9:03 PM on April 7, 2023
posted by hydrophonic at 9:03 PM on April 7, 2023
As others have mentioned, you need to disrupt the reflection in some way - in addition to some of the mentioned possibilities I’ve also seen people hang decorative strands of beads or rope across the window.
You didn’t ask, but wild robins don’t tend to have long lifespans; you’re likely seeing this behavior from multiple birds over time.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:58 AM on April 9, 2023
You didn’t ask, but wild robins don’t tend to have long lifespans; you’re likely seeing this behavior from multiple birds over time.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:58 AM on April 9, 2023
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If you can find a way to stop that reflection, he might try another window, but if you hang screens up or something he should at least stop in a few months.
posted by The otter lady at 9:42 AM on April 7, 2023