Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2000 15:56:13 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: LMarkoff Subject: Re: Bird-Window collisions Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello MDOsprey, ><< there was a male cardinal who crashed > into my second story bedroom window regularly starting not long after > sunup. He'd fly straight at the window, crash into it with a loud THUD, > fall 5 or 10 feet, recover, fly back up into the tree outside the > window, and do it again -- and again, >> > >In the reflection, he was seeing a "rival" and was attempting to chase him >off the territory. > >Betty Conley Betty is correct, the Cardinal was attacking his reflection, thinking it was another male Cardinal. Over the years, I've had Cardinals attack their reflections in windows, car mirrors, and even the shiny bumper on my van. The only way to stop them is to cover whatever it is that they are crashing into so they no longer see their reflection. I used newspaper for the job. Regarding window collisions, keeping screens on works quite well, and the screens cushion the impact of any birds that still hit. For windows without screens, I've used mylar bird-scare tape, a plastic ribbon-like tape that is shiny red on one side and shiny silver on the other. Using adhesive tape on the ends of each piece, I put several 15" long strips of bird-scare across each window, usually spaced about 10" apart. It works quite well, but I've found that if you don't periodically replace it, it ends up sticking to your windows. It is difficult to get off. I had to use a razor blade to scrap it off. This year I'm trying FOST (fluorescent orange surveyor's tape). Again, I'm taping several 15" strips on each window, spaced about 10" apart. You can tape each end of the strip to the window, or you can tape one end and let the "ribbon" flutter in the breeze. Admittedly, FOST is not unobtrusive, but so far it's working pretty well. And personally, I'd rather have a gaudy-looking window than hear the heart-rending thud that can only be the sound of another bird hitting my window. Hope this helps. Lori Markoff Vienna, VA Fairfax County markoff@cais.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================