We have lots of birds that come to our yard to the feeders.

Today, a trio of juvenal male Cardinals, in the throes of lust, decided that attacking their reflections in the breakfast room windows was therapeutic for the horny state.

I have hung some aluminum foil strips that twist in the wind on the windows and that persuaded two of the three to move on with their lives. One persists in his desire to do battle with his reflection.

Any ideas that have worked for you guys?

Thanks,

RMD

And here I thought this was going to be a news release on the Papal-funeral after party!

I had the same problem and the bird was relentless. A fake owl next to the window didn't work. I finally made a frame of cheap pine and stapled a fine mesh over it and placed it out side the window frame. The combination of the mesh reducing the reflection and preventing the bird from attacking the window finally did the trick.

Be glad it wasn't a turkey outside your upstairs bathroom window.
Boy does that make a noise.

Castrate the little buggers.

Or get a cat.

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:
Or get a cat.

That is a shitbag response.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:
Or get a cat.

That is a shitbag response.

We have a cat and it stopped our bird problem of them trying to fly through our front to rear windows. He hangs out on the window sill looking out. Birds stay away. "Shitbag response"? Calm down cowboy, you're all worked up over nothing.

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
Calm down cowboy, you're all worked up over nothing.

No.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
No.

OK Cowboy, rile yourself up some more. Go nuts.

Closing blinds or drapes will might help depending upon which side of the house the window is located. The down side of course is you can't see out the window. But maybe after a day or so he'll go somewhere else.

This worked for me once and the situation was really bad because the birds had built a nest in a tree right outside the window. I guess they thought the reflections were another bird coming to attack their nest.

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
No.

OK Cowboy, rile yourself up some more. Go nuts.

Just go fuck yourself.

I understand Mars’ response as I am a bird owner and lover myself. I do not own cats, but I do not hate them. Same with dogs. I only own birds. I do not agree with killing anything for no reason. I do get frustrated that I find birds, squirrels, and rabbits dead in my yard and I have to dispose of their bodies. When I watch surveillance video, a cat killed them as a toy and when dead just left them. It wasn’t a kill to eat.

Back to the original question of the OP, we have closed our shades at times to prevent them from trying to come in our house via the closed window because they see our birds sitting on perches at the window and either are wanting to attack them or come say hello. I keep a bird feeder and bird bath in the backyard so we end up with lots of birds coming.

I've stuck Post-it Notes on windows to help with bird issues. The advantage is that they are cheap, easily put up and removed, and don't leave residue.

They do sell nicely shaped translucent plastic stickers that do the same thing as my Post-its, i.e. making it obvious to the birds that there is a window not open space and breaking up reflections - much more esthetically. link to an example @ Amazon

I have a feeder with sunflower seeds for the cardinals.

Have had the same problem. I went to the Dollar Store and bought one of those cheap soft rubber snakes and put it on the sill. Works fine.

We had a male that did that every morning, he'd come out of the hedge near the bedroom, we had the windows tinted to thwart the afternoon sun and he would bang into them, basically a wake up message.

Cardinals were my moms favorite, growing up in Kentucky, state bird and they were plentiful.

There are quite a few in CFL, put up a squirrel buster feeder and put the "hot" feed in to help keep them away

quote:

Originally posted by cndrdk:
Have had the same problem. I went to the Dollar Store and bought one of those cheap soft rubber snakes and put it on the sill. Works fine.

I did the same with a camera that covers the front door. Had a bird that liked to roost on it and triggered it in the early morning. It worked for a couple of weeks.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

RMD

Geeze. Sorry. Cat line was tongue in cheek like the line before it.

I use to feed the birds chick cracked corn in a CA redwood trough I made and sun flower seed in a squirrel proof feeder.

The doves would fight over their turn at the feeder. In the winter time, there would be 80 to 100 doves setting in the trees.

One winter, there were at least 20 cardinals in attendance. The females were hard to see which made an exact count hard.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:


They do sell nicely shaped translucent plastic stickers that do the same thing as my Post-its, i.e. making it obvious to the birds that there is a window not open space and breaking up reflections - much more esthetically. link to an example @ Amazon

I put these stickers on my solarium windows. I think I've only had one strike in the last ten years. I love my feathered friends!