Question for a bird expert

[mikeyboy]

Hi - wonder if anyone can help me.

For the last week or so, I have been amazed by the behaviour of a chaffinch.

It hovers constantly in front of my window, banging into the window - it does this constantly, every day, from early morning until mid afternoon.

I'm not sure if there is any way that I can stop it doing this - it doesn't bother me (it's actually quite amusing!), but I just don't want it to harm itself.

Has anyone heard of this type of behaviour before, and can you offer any bird friendly suggestions that I can use to stop or distract it.......there must be more exciting things a bird can do in mating season!!!!

Thanks

[GuyF]

Hi and welcome to the site,
It's really interesting that you're seeing this, as I've had exactly the same thing with a Coal Tit (I assume it's a male).
It started last spring, he would stand on a branch outside our hall window and would sing loudly then flutter up against the window. A few weeks ago, I think the same Coal Tit returned to exactly the same bush and window and started doing exactly the same as he had done the year before, it was nice to see him return. Here's a picture of him, I could get really close because he was so absorbed in what he was doing!



My theory is that it is because it is springtime. I think he sees the reflection of himself in the window and thinks it is a rival so trys to attack it and out-do it. It's funny to watch, and I don't think it does the bird too much harm. So basically I think it's these birds being territorial and finding rivals (reflections) to try and scare off. I don't think it does any harm, but to stop him you could probably put a sheet over the window so there aren't any reflections.
Guy

[Elizabeth B]

We had a similar thing a few years ago. Our back door is fully double glazed, and one day as I went to open the door, I saw a goldcrest on the outside handle. It just moved into the nearby hedge as I opened the door, and sat watching me as I walked down the path. Judging by the mess on the doorstep, this was quite a frequent habit - and we saw it several times in the next week or so.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by GuyF

My theory is that it is because it is springtime. I think he sees the reflection of himself in the window and thinks it is a rival so trys to attack it and out-do it. It's funny to watch, and I don't think it does the bird too much harm. So basically I think it's these birds being territorial and finding rivals (reflections) to try and scare off. I don't think it does any harm, but to stop him you could probably put a sheet over the window so there aren't any reflections.
Guy

I think you are right - i saw a male blue tit today kicking hell out of its own reflection in my car wing mirror

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by eeyore

I think you are right - i saw a male blue tit today kicking hell out of its own reflection in my car wing mirror

I agree that's the reason for this behaviour- I've seen birds like Chaffinches + Pied Wagtails attacking their reflections in wing mirrors of parked cars.

[John]

I had a Grey Wagtail in my garden for six months at a time for two years and he would fly at our patio window repeatedly (he's the one in my avatar). They are also known to love attacking car wing mirrors.

John

[Rich_]

I once saw a pied wagtail who'd found another reason for hovering up against the window of the factory where I work, It did this for at least an hour. I couldn't see what it was up to until I got really close & it was picking midges from spiders webs spun across the window frame.

[almostnormal]

Originally Posted by mikeyboy

Hi - wonder if anyone can help me.

For the last week or so, I have been amazed by the behaviour of a chaffinch.

It hovers constantly in front of my window, banging into the window - it does this constantly, every day, from early morning until mid afternoon.

I'm not sure if there is any way that I can stop it doing this - it doesn't bother me (it's actually quite amusing!), but I just don't want it to harm itself.

Has anyone heard of this type of behaviour before, and can you offer any bird friendly suggestions that I can use to stop or distract it.......there must be more exciting things a bird can do in mating season!!!!

Thanks

hi

one way of stopping birds flying into windows is to stick things in the window, bird silhouettes work pretty well, so you could try that. i don't think they were originally designed for this purpose, but it might stop him bashing himself against your window!

[agrumpycow]

I once noticed the outline of a bird on my bedroom window, it looked as if the poor idiot had taken a nose dive at my window and whacked into it leaving a greasy mark at the impact - feet up, beak down!! It looked the size of a pigeon and we found no evidence of it's demise on the ground inderneath so it seems to have got away with it! You could even see the claw marks! Strange creatures

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

I once noticed the outline of a bird on my bedroom window, it looked as if the poor idiot had taken a nose dive at my window and whacked into it leaving a greasy mark at the impact - feet up, beak down!! It looked the size of a pigeon and we found no evidence of it's demise on the ground inderneath so it seems to have got away with it! You could even see the claw marks! Strange creatures

I don't think they do it on purpose! They genuinely think they are flying towards further habitat and empty space, I know how much it can hurt just walking into a patio door (haven't most of us doen that? Or is it just me? )
I can't imaging how much it much hurt to fly at full speed into one....

I found a woodpigeon with a broken neck on the ground where it had flown into the window at a friend's house, it was the third bird to fly into that particular window, when I went outside and tried to look at the window with a bird's eye I could see that the large mirror on the inside opposite wall did indeed look like more garden beyond the room, when the mirror was moved no more collisions

[Elizabeth B]

We have the occasional window strike, some fatal - but the goldcrest I showed in the pics in message 3 above was definitely not crashing into the glass, hoping to fly beyond it. The door is only 3 feet away from the tall hedge on the opposite side of the path, and the bird spent a long time perched on the door handle or flutttering up and down against the glass of the door. It did this off and on for a couple of weeks - as shown by the mess on the doorstep..

[werdnal]

We get the occasional bird strike on our windows too. In the right lighting/sunlight, they seem to think its a way through, probably seeing reflection of the garden behind them. Even my husband's pet doves have done it a few times. Must be one hell of a shock when they hit! Most are just stunned for a few seconds then carry on OK.

The constant attacking of the glass though, is probably territorial. They cannot understand mirror-like reflections and think its a rival. We used to have a loopy magpie here, who would sit on our porch roof shouting and strutting up and down challenging his reflection to a fight, then eventually throw himself at the bedroom window. For such normally intelligent birds, he was so thick!

[agrumpycow]

[quote=Gill Catton;106249]I don't think they do it on purpose! They genuinely think they are flying towards further habitat and empty space, I know how much it can hurt just walking into a patio door (haven't most of us doen that? Or is it just me? )
I can't imaging how much it much hurt to fly at full speed into one.... QUOTE]

I wasn't suggesting it did it on purpose, I'm yet to come across a suicidal bird! although you never know............

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

, I know how much it can hurt just walking into a patio door (haven't most of us doen that? Or is it just me?

I think thats just you - though i did once crash straight through a glass partition in a club once - but i was drunk at the time

bird strikes are very common and regretably a sysptom of how much glass is used in builds these days - in my experience the best way to avoid them is to stick sillohuettes on the glass - these dont need to be the traditional bird shape - my window is currently sporting a moose with unfeasibly wide antlers

[agrumpycow]

Originally Posted by eeyore

in my experience the best way to avoid them is to stick sillohuettes on the glass - these dont need to be the traditional bird shape - my window is currently sporting a moose with unfeasibly wide antlers

Is that for your benefit or the birds