We have some north facing windows / glass patio doors into which birds keep flying. They are usually okay but some seem to get knocked out for a bit. I imagine that they are just seeing the backyard reflected in the glass; I have bedroom french doors facing the same direction which the birds avoid - perhaps because we have (white) shades which are kept closed almost all the time.

I think the birds make holes in the screen mesh occasionally when the crash.

I've tried making the windows more visible w/ stickers and tape to no avail.

I'm going to replace the screens with expensive mesh and I'm hoping to not have the birds make new holes.

Help? What can I do so that the birds know these are windows yet not ruin the view looking outside?

ETA: I should have included this in the initial post. We have a bird bath near the back patio door. It's shaded by a small tree. We get a lot of birds that drink water and take a bath. I'd prefer not scare them off but do want them to stop flying into the windows. As an aside, I saw a bigger bird (some bird of prey - falcon? hawk?) catch a smaller bird; the larger bird immobilized the smaller bird on the ground. So, seems like scaring them off would work with a fake owl or something. If possible, I'd prefer to invite them to bath but have them stop crashing.

Do the CD's scare them or just make them aware of an unseen barrier like a window?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: konata88,

Hang a fake owl or wind chimes in front of the window, if that's possible.

I have the same issue . I hear them bang off the window and occasionally find one dead .

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
Hang a fake owl or wind chimes in front of the window, if that's possible.

I use a fake hawk on a long stake below the windows. Works well but you have to move it occasionally or the birds will no longer fear it.

In the last few months I've lost a Blue Jay and a Crow to west facing windows. The screens on mine are on the inside. I haven't put any stickers or anything like that on the windows yet, but have thought about it. I was thinking about stained glass pieces. Coincidentally, I do have four wind chimes on that side of the house, but apparently didn't help with those two. I hate burying birds.

I have heard (but never actually used) that hanging old CDs from a string act as a deterrent to bird strikes. The shine and movement is what does the trick.

We have a large window in our living room and a glass patio door to our deck both on the west side. They reflect our back yard and the birds think they are flying into trees. They fly mostly into the patio door. I found some videos online that suggested using removable white ink to make vertical lines on the windows. I just started leaving the interior screen door half open to make vertical lines. That has almost stopped them from flying into the patio door. For a while we were getting birds hitting the windows almost every day, sometimes multiple times per day.

We always put clings up on our windows/patio doors. Usually only struggle during breeding season and migration.

Bird numbers have been declining and glass windows are basically invisible, deadly force fields for birds and kill 100's of millions of them every year just in the United States. For that reason I leave screens over my windows all year.

I have heard (but never actually used) that hanging old CDs from a string


My old CDs are more valuable to me than making bird deterrents!!!! LOL

Related, but not helpful, story time.

Round about 2005 I was sitting in my office at my place of employee. The building was a santuary for a large church and that room was big enough to squeeze in 1500+ people and made of concrete walls. The front had massive glass windows, maybe 12 feet high.

Anyway, while sitting there I heard and FELT something hit the building. It was loud, and I felt the thud. I figured a car or some other vehicle had run into the plaec. I went downstairs and outside and... nothing. Nothing out of order that was immediately evident. Then I noticed a schmear of some sort on one of the windows, about head high. And then I noticed a piegon on the ground a foot or two back from the window.

The little guy went head first into that thing hard enough to lead tangible solid evidence (to put it politely). Cleary he was done, so I moved him to his final resting place (trash can).

I was shocked that such a light bird would cause me to hear and feel that impact in such a large building.

I've got about a million of the little bastages around here. All day long all summer long they're banging into the windows. I just toss 'em into the burn pile or garbage can. If I could find an ethical (or sometimes unethical) way of getting rid of them I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's a nightmare trying to keep them away from the fruit trees and tomatoes. They've destroyed all the peaches on my tree and all the tomatoes in the garden more than once.

During my SAC days, the control tower would often ask the patrols to chase the crows off the runway so the aircraft could take off.