What can I do about a red cardinal continually running into our sliding glass door?
Question:The bird isn't just flying into it hard...but is acting like it's trying to either get in the house or sees itself in glass...it's driving me NUTS!
Answers:
Based on your description of its behavior, I suspect it thinks it is seeing another bird (its own reflection). Cardinals are territorial, and when it sees its own reflection, it thinks another male has invaded its territory and it needs to chase him off.
The decals work, but only to keep birds from accidentially flying into glass. If it can still see its own reflection, it will still try to attack it.
Summers coming, you might try hanging a roll-up bamboo or similar outdoor shade over the window. It will block the reflection of the bird and help keep your house cooler in the summer.
There are also owl dummies you can get to scare away pigeons. The presence of the owl may cause the cardinal to go into flight mode instead of fight mode and stay away from your window.
Quit using Windex--Ha ha. Do you have blinds or curtains you can pull over? See if that helps to cut the birds reflection. Maybe it is just Territorial and thinks it'self is another bird??
I used to have this problem, until I put several decorative decals on the door, to make it more visible. I also let a little dust accumulate on the door.
Good luck to you!
Althought they're pretty, sometimes birds are just dumb!..The decals idea works, but sometimes they're too absorbed in their reflection to notice it- My mum used to hang chimes on the interior curtain rail above th door, and the constant movement inside the door of the chimes helped slow down the winged traffic.
Try hanging something with a suction cup on the glass. Some birds do fly up to glass and eat small insects. This time of year they are looking for morsels for their babies.
This occurs when birds attack windows. It usually occurs in spring, and is due to birds' urge to defend breeding territories. The male cardinal pecking at your window is fighting what he perceives as an intruding male—he doesn't understand that it's his own reflection. This territorial reaction may be so strong that the bird may exhaust himself, but it usually doesn't result in fatal injury.
Avoid apparent visual tunnels.
Bright windows on the opposite wall from your sliding flass door may give the illusion of a visual tunnel through which birds may try to fly. Try making one window less transparent by keeping a shade drawn or a door closed, or by altering the lighting inside the house. You can also make the glass less transparent by taping paper or cardboard on the inside of the panes—unslightly, but a good temporary measure until you can find a better solution.
Break up external reflections with stickers or plastic wrap.
Break up window reflections by sticking objects to the outside of the glass. Black plastic silhouettes of a falcon, hawk, or owl sometimes work, not because they look like predators but because they disrupt the window's reflectivity. Semi-transparent stickers can also do the job—some have decorative bird shapes, or look like spider webs. Sheets of plastic food wrap may work too.
Disrupt reflections with spray-on materials or soap.
Try spraying fake Christmas snow on the outside of the window, or drawing streaks across it with bar soap. Again, the goal is to break up external reflections.
Attach hanging objects to deter birds.
Hang lightweight, shiny items in front of the window so they move in the breeze and dissuade birds from approaching. Try strips of shiny, reflective plastic (hung a few inches apart), old aluminum pie plates, or unwanted compact discs.
Reduce reflections with trees or awnings.
Reduce the amount of light reaching a problem window by planting shade trees close to it. This will help prevent reflections. However, it will also obstruct your view. Trees take time to grow, so consider shading your window with an awning instead. Either one may help birds by reducing the amount of sky reflected in windows.
Cover windows with netting.
Place netting over the window. It provides a physical barrier to birds flying into the glass, yet won't obstruct your view. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology installed crop netting—the kind used to keep birds away from fruit trees—in front of a large picture window next to our bird-feeding garden in our original building. The result? No more dead and injured birds. Small-mesh netting is best—ours was 5/8" (1.6 cm) in diameter—so if birds do fly into it they won't get their heads or bodies entangled but will bounce off unharmed. You can mount the netting on a frame, such as a storm-window frame, for easy installation and removal. You could also try insect screening material.
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