Non-hideous ways to prevent birds from flying into windows?

August 2, 2017 8:57 AM

I'm looking for aesthetically appealing, or at least not-terribly-ugly, ways to prevent birdies from flying into the windows of my craftsman bungalow. Help?!

Last week I moved into my first house. Probably my favorite thing about it is the living room, which has tons of light thanks to two big picture windows. Yesterday I found a dead bird on my front stoop, and a little investigation suggests that it flew straight into my big, beautiful picture window and broke its tiny birdy neck. I have a feeling this is going to happen a lot, and I would like to prevent a bird massacre, both because I don't like killing defenseless creatures and because picking up dead birds is traumatic. But I also don't want to ruin the aesthetics of my living room. Does anyone have any ideas for non-ugly ways to deter birds from flying into my windows?

I've looked online, and most of the places that discuss this seem to be very interested in the well-being of birds and not that interested in aesthetics. A lot of solutions block natural light, which I would like to avoid, and others are just kind of ugly. I would like something that was in keeping with the basic aesthetic of the room, which is simple and in harmony with nature. So far, my best bets seem to be these string things, which aren't lovely but are at least relatively unobtrusive, and this also-pretty-unobtrusive dotted tape. Does anyone have any other ideas for me?

posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

We have some (similar, not exactly this product, I don't think) bird silhouette stickers on the windows of our library. Depending on your aesthetic, they could be quite nice.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:04 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Seconding that bird stickers work. Also statues of owls, which can look rather nice.
posted by ubiquity at 9:06 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have heard the dots work.

If it's a craftsman bungalow is this big picture window facing out to an overhung front porch? If so you can make that exterior space less bird friendly making it harder for them to reach the window in the first place. My childhood home did that with climbing plants and a fine screen on one side.
posted by French Fry at 9:06 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Could you put the dotted tape in an Arts & Crafts-style pattern on the window? (Since the whole aesthetic is straight lines, it shouldn't be too difficult)

You could also buy adhesive frosted window film and cut it into different A&C shapes, though I don't know how well that would deter birds.
posted by Lucinda at 9:07 AM on August 2, 2017

We hung a piece of stained glass on the inside of our big picture window. Decorative and stopped birds from flying into it.
posted by fimbulvetr at 9:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

When we lived in the country we taped an 8" length of ribbon in the middle of a window , worked pretty well, not very obtrusive.Use 2 for a big picture window.
posted by canoehead at 9:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: These are GREAT and really work. They come in other designs and don't leave a residue when removed. These have significantly cut down on the number of birdstrikes at our house. Just make sure you are using them correctly (they go on the outside of your windows). We have them on all our windows. (My bf works for Audubon :) )
posted by ATX Peanut at 10:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

Thirding bird silhouette stickers. We have a partly glassed-in veranda and had about four or five window-induced bird deaths every year. None after the stickers were installed.
posted by Namlit at 10:49 AM on August 2, 2017

Seconding ATX Peanut's recommendation. They are not really noticeable from inside or out. After a couple years they will start to get stuff (mold? algae?) growing under the margins and after a couple more years in bright sun become brittle and difficult to remove. That said I'd use them again in an instant.
posted by achrise at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017

[Thank y'all who mentioned the UV decals! I have 5 birds and have been looking for something like this to put on my sliding glass door -- they usually know it's there, but I worry when they panic. Those are super cool!]
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:28 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Custom faux frosted-glass decals. We have these (a small-ish cluster of four) on our French windows. They match our cottage aesthetic and have significantly reduced the avian massacres happening. Etsy has plenty of stores that will customize decals for you.
posted by Everydayville at 12:41 PM on August 2, 2017

A plain Post-it will work. Done that. Though not as stylish as ^^.

(be sure to draw a smiling emoji for your feathered friends).
posted by artdrectr at 1:21 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

First check what is on the wall facing the window. We solved the same problem by removing a mirror. If the
view through the window looks like it is open to the other side, either from reflections or a window opposite, birds think they can fly through.
posted by Botanizer at 2:17 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Bird silhouettes really don't work very well. Dots - and remarkably closely spaced dots, too - work better. Recent trials showed that birds didn't recognize silhouettes as predators very often, but if the dots were spaced too close for a flyway, they wouldn't attempt to pass. The gap size between dots is something like 10 cm horizontally by 4 cm vertically.
posted by scruss at 4:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

I had almost the exact same issue in my living room. My solution involved traveling to Portugal and buying two swallow figurines which people hang by their doors for good luck and to prevent non-ceramic swallows from nesting in their eaves. I hung them outside over the picture window and never had a bird issue again. If you can't make it to Portugal, it looks like you can buy them online.
posted by amelliferae at 8:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]