But she flies rings around them all
She comes to town when the children sing
And leaves them feathers if they fall
We found this little guy on front steps the other day, the yellowest bird I have ever seen. He was so beautiful that I couldn't resist taking his photograph. He both fascinates me and makes my heart ache.
This is not the first bird I've found on my steps, but I have finally realised that they are hitting the glass fence which surrounds our garden. (Who designed this anyways!?) I need to research and find the best way to help stop birds from flying into glass... Decals? Do you have any experience with this sort of thing? Do you have any ideas? Please share.
25 comments:
I don't have experience here but perhaps one of those scary looking plastic owls would keep the birds away in general? I don't know if you want to do that, but it might help.
Yes there are decals or print out a picture of flying owls and post them up. Also putting the long foil strands that scare birds out of gardens on either side. Anything that makes the window not look like a 3d view of garden or forest...something to break up the reflection. Cats are another big problem in the huge decline of songbirds.
We found that even simple owl pictures taped to our picture window glass helped keep the birds from flying into it.
My sister has had great luck with drawing spider webs on her windows with a marker. She used a Sharpie but I'm sure any less permanent variety would work as well, although the Sharpie came right off when cleaned.
poor guy...
the picture is so beautiful and moving, though.
They have decals just for this! We use them on our huge window and it works. They are almost transparent but have some sort of ultraviolet effect that birds' eyes can detect, so they look violet to them and clear to our human eyes. They come in several shapes (we have maple leaves, but they have snowflakes and plain geometric shapes. We bought them at a place that sells bird seeds, bird feeders etc. We've had them for several years and they last, but can easily be removed too.
Such beautiful color and so sad... I hope you can find a way to help the birds!
We have some trouble with this in our backyard. We've had several birds hit our back windows. It makes an awful noise when they hit but I am always surprised at the number of them that recover after a few minutes and fly away again. We've had only two fatalities despite many collisions.
Last year we had a huge flock of red-winged blackbirds in our back yard (we must be the only house on the street with a feeder) and ended up putting brown paper over the window to stop it reflecting the sky. It worked but was a long way from ideal. I'm curious about the ultraviolet decals mentioned above. I remember seeing them somewhere but can't remember where - a gardening shop or maybe the Lee Valley catalogue.
As an interesting aside: In our back yard it seems to be only the female red-winged blackbirds that hit the window. We've never seen a male do it.
oh my goodness, he is a handsome little fella.
i know exactly what you mean- when we were on our trip out west, we happened upon this huge CRANE who had clearly JUST been hit in the road... we stopped the car and i got out and just looked at him... he was so beautiful and perfect just lying there, i wanted to take a photo but i felt so strange going back into the car to get my camera, after all, it's not every day you see a crane up close like that... in the end, i didn't take the photo, but i sometimes wish i did?
anyhow, i know what you mean exactly! we also have large windows on our house and we don't have any window treatments at all (perks of being in a private area) but the down side to this is that my sweet feathered friends often hit the glass- we've rescued some, and seen others go... i almost think *anything* on the glass would help! even if it's creative kiddo artwork! i know you and miss A can come up with something amazing!
RIP little yellow friend.
we have a large living room window and birds fly into it all the time! most of the time they fly away easily, but a few have passed.
We have taped flying bird silouettes to our large glass windows given this problem. They are fun for us to look at and we haven't had any issues with birds crashing into our windows since then. I do like the idea of those 'invisible to humans' decals. Will have to look for those!
Poor, little beautiful thing. I bet he was amazing when he still flew.
Could you grow plants in front or over the fence?
decals or buntings work well
Decals will work, or old, used CDs - mirror side facing out.
Hi, Geninne has an example of some bird decals on her windows. http://www.flickr.com/photos/geninne/5448352736/in/set-72157624275199812
We had the same problem. All we did was look up shadows of birds of pray on google and made decals ourselves. Our song birds are fooled into thinking there is really a hawk or eagle flying by and they stay away from the glass!
I'm an avid birdwatcher, have been for many years. This little bird is a male yellow warbler, has a sweet song: Sweet, sweet, I'm so sweet!
Window/glass strikes kill millions of birds annually, a problem easily remedied with decals/outlines of birds, strips of mylar that could be taped to the edge of the glass and allowed to blow free, breaking up the reflection.
Knowing how artistic you are, I'm sure you'll come up with something clever...make your own decals with white paint, they can be applied from the inside, easily peeled off if you need to wash the glass. The vinyl acts like an adhesive.
Google "bird strike decals" for inspiration or to buy them.
if you have something shiny and metallic in front of the windows, that will help and look less of an eyesore than bird decals or blow-up owls. basically use a silver paper ribbon - chrome-like finish and string them over the window glass. a few loose diagonals around the fence should work. wind helps it move and "shimmer". replace as needed when it loses its shininess. this is also effective over gardens to prevent birds from eating your food. good luck!
It is a beautiful picture but sad as well. Here in Holland they stick black stickers of seagulls onto see trough plastic of glass which separates the bicycle paths from the highways. It scares the little birds and prevent them from flying against it.
hello friend so sad birds...............
Decals of a predatory bird should do the trick! Plus perhaps a decal of a cat?
we had the same problem. someone told us to cut out a swallow from a white paper and put it onto the glass door (or fence in your situation). you might not believe, but it worked!
sorry for uninvited enter :)
ummm so sad poor bird it was so beautiful and had a incredible perfect color
Good post thanks
I'm sure you don't have this problem anymore since you have moved, but thought I'd put this up in case you or others run into (no pun intended) this problem again.
Some suggested putting mirrors or shiny things on the glass -- Not only is this a potential eyesore, but it is the opposite of what you want! Birds are flying into glass either because they see what's on the other side (a glass fence I have never heard of, but I suppose it exists), or because they see the grasses, trees, vegetation reflected in it and think the landscape goes on behind it. Putting up a mirrored surface will only encourage this.
Others suggested vinyl deals, drawings, or any substantial shape on the glass that will break up the reflection and, bonus, give the illusion of a predator's shadow in the landscape, which is a clear sign to turn the other way. These work quite well, but you have to have more than one of them if you have more than just a 3-foot window in length. Again, potential eyesore.
Recently there has been a development in a type of glass that has ultraviolet patterns on it, criss-crossed like a pile of pick-up sticks (from which the glass type gets its name), that the birds can easily see as an obstruction to be avoided, but which is invisible to humans. (see article here: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/08/158201732/sky-high-design-how-to-make-a-bird-friendly-building) If spending thousands of dollars to replace every piece of glass is not an option, I'd look into the UV decals (never heard of them, but great to know they exist!), or you can etch your own designs in the glass. A vertical striped pattern? Silhouettes of wind-blown grasses? Swirls and dots? Any craft store should sell a do-it-yourself glass etching kit for a very small price. Make art and save birds at the same time!
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