Mouprise.com

Why do birds fly to the windows?

A chickadee lands on the ground and grabs a small insect for a bite to eat. It quickly takes off only to slam into your front window, and you hear that horrible “thud.”

Fortunately, this was only a glancing blow. After retreating to a nearby tree branch to recuperate, the chickadee regains its wits and flies off in another direction. This little bird was lucky. Window collisions result in thousands of bird deaths each year.

The clear glass is completely invisible to birds. Instead, they see reflections of their surroundings, such as trees and sky. Or they find a very interesting houseplant or shiny objects inside your house and fly to it. If you take a walk around your house and look at the reflections in your windows, you will see them as your birds see them.

However, you can minimize or even eliminate this problem by hanging objects inside or outside the window or glass door to break those reflections.

About 6 years ago I had the idea of ​​using strips of vinyl adhesive paper (‘Contact’ brand) arranged diagonally, to prevent my wild birds from crashing into our windows.

First, I made sure the glass was clean and free of grease that could prevent adhesion. I chose a light colored wood grain vinyl sticker paper, which I found at the local big box store. I then measured the window diagonally from corner to corner and cut my first strip to that length, plus 3 inches to allow for waste. There is a grid on the paper backing so measuring 2 inch strips was a breeze. You can use any width you want, depending on the size of your windows. However, you don’t want the strips to be so close together that they can obscure your view.

I started my first strip at a top corner of the window and adhered the strip to the window glass in a straight line, ending at the opposite bottom corner. I trimmed off the excess adhesive paper and measured the next strip. It’s easy to keep the strips in a straight line if you make a cardboard template that is the desired width (I chose 2″ wide) and long enough to reach from corner to corner on your window. Use the template as a spacer to ensure a proper distance. uniform from one strip to another.

Continue adding strips diagonally in one direction then start at the opposite top corner and repeat. This pattern reminds me of an English country house. I think it makes a lovely addition to the look of our home. Visibility is not affected for me, and no birds have hit our windows since I installed this treatment.

I have washed the windows as usual, but with a gentle hand. So far the pattern has remained intact and it still looks great. It has withstood rain, snow, sleet, wind, hot sun, and various window cleaners beautifully.

Another solution is decorative window clings sold online through wild bird vendors. The stickers are invisible to us, but they reflect ultraviolet light to warn birds. They come in different shapes and sizes and require much less labor than the first option.

Another possible remedy: Remember Glass Wax? Yes. When we were kids, we always decorated my grandmother’s windows with Glass Wax Holiday stencils. Because the product was a paste type of glass cleaner, it worked very well. There are many plastic stencils available at craft and hobby stores. This would be a fun way for your children to help save birds.

Here are some ways to prevent birds from colliding with your beautiful glass windows and doors. Use any of them, or think outside the box and come up with some creative ideas that work for your particular situation.

Terrible window collisions can be avoided if you make the effort to make sure the wild birds in your backyard keep flying safely!