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Original poster

I know it's not reasonable to kill a robin but wtf do I do?

250 replies

dancemonke · 09/09/2022 10:14

I have a robin who thinks it lives in my house. If I open any of the windows at all, it flies in and then (if I am in, which I am a lot because I wfh) it panics and flies around shitting everywhere. I am so so so over it. What do I do? I love fresh air and like having my windows, but it just comes straight in and I keep finding bird poo all over the place and I have a one and a three year old and I don't want crap all over the place. This morning, I caught it and chucked it out - and I actually just want to kill it now. I know it sounds silly, but I hate having random bird poo everywhere (it stains the carpets, it's GROSS). Is there anyway of humanely convincing it that it doesn't live here? (Yes, I've googled and I know about the fact that it's a sign of approaching death, which doesn't improve my mood.)

OP posts:
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Windbeneathmybingowings · 09/09/2022 10:32

phishy · 09/09/2022 10:29

Maybe get a cage for it and let it be a pet?

I hate caging bird but maybe this one is used to a life of captivity.

This will ultimately set off the chain of events seen in The Birds, we done need bird-ageddon.

i agree with driving it away somewhere

PornographicPriestess · 09/09/2022 10:33

Can you video it? Actually sounds hilarious

MatterOfThyme · 09/09/2022 10:33

Robins are meant to be reincarnated loved ones. Lost anybody who may be determinedly trying to get to you? Although...doesn't sound as though they liked you v much with all the poo! 🤣🤣

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 09/09/2022 10:33

Pics!

Try and release it outside a house that looks a lot like yours. Problem solved!

Original poster
dancemonke · 09/09/2022 10:33

@Stath 😂It's a fifties bungalow so OF COURSE the only thing to sodding haunt it would be an angry robin

OP posts:
AlisonDonut · 09/09/2022 10:35

We are in France and every window and door has a screen.

I don't feel like I live in a prison!

FourTeaFallOut · 09/09/2022 10:36

You can't kidnap a robin that worse than putting it out of its misery.

sleepymum50 · 09/09/2022 10:39

Could it be looking for food? Could you set up a tasty and generous feeding station close by.

Culldesack · 09/09/2022 10:39

I used to get blackbirds fly into my dining room. Imagine trying to catch one of those big things to get outside!

Original poster
dancemonke · 09/09/2022 10:40

@JesusInTheCabbageVan Of course, the moment I tried to photograph it, it buggered off. Maybe THAT is the solution. Maybe it is a camera shy robin. Problem solved. And will post a snap asap if not.
Don't worry, @FourTeaFallOut I don't even much like canaries in cages - def won't put the robin in a cage.

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howdidigethere · 09/09/2022 10:40

Sorry, the poo must be annoying but I'd love a visiting robin and would feed it and coax it to perch on my hand, Poppins style. I'd probably give it a name...Robin maybe.

Original poster
dancemonke · 09/09/2022 10:41

@sleepymum50 I think it is probably looking for food, so maybe this is the best option. Just I'm bone idle and flat out with kids and work. Also not sure about negotiating with terrorists. 😂

OP posts:
Stath · 09/09/2022 10:42

Is this you guys and the robin?

I know it's not reasonable to kill a robin but wtf do I do?
Original poster
dancemonke · 09/09/2022 10:42

@howdidigethere I mean this is def a charming image, but it has no interest in being my friend. It just wants my house.

OP posts:
Original poster
dancemonke · 09/09/2022 10:43

@Stath Yes

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isthismylifenow · 09/09/2022 10:46

I had a similar problem with a different kind of bird, we had a real love/hate relationship. Granted they didn't come into the house but attacked my car nearly every single day. Fighting with itself in the mirrors (which are all now scratched as they have a good beak), and shredding the window wipers constantly. And pooing everywhere on the car. It was getting ridiculous as I had to put the car to bed every night, covering it up, trying bags over the wing mirrors etc. I had read about hanging old cd's and thought that would never work, as it would probably just use that as a mirror too.... So I hung a few up near the car and I have to say it did make a difference. I think its the shine as it spins in the wind.

They were a pair, and lived in the tree at the bottom of the garden, it was the neighbour's but hung over to my side. I would sit out and they would hop onto the grass every day, as in a greeting hello to me. I would say hello and tell them to bloody leave the car alone.... It became a standing joke with the dc that I had conversations with them every day.

Then I got new neighbours and they cut the whole tree down within days of moving in! I never saw the pair of birds again. I was really sad about it for quite a while tbh. They were so bloody destructive, yet cute and cheeky (and loud) at the same time. They were Crested Barbets if anyone is wondering the type of bird.

So maybe try hanging some old cds up. I know they don't look great, but it does seem to scare them off a bit. Mine didn't go away completely, but they stopped going to the areas where the cds were hanging.

mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork · 09/09/2022 10:47

Since it can see its reflection in the window, presumably it thinks a rival robin lives in the house and needs to get it out of its territory. Can you put some sort of stick on plastic cover on the glass to stop him seeing the reflection (as winter approaches the sun will move round and he may not be able to see the reflection any more). I used to work in a doctor's consulting rooms in Harley Street and we had a visiting blackbird who saw his reflection in the planters on the balcony and disturbed consultations with his angry pecking at his "rival" - it was loud.. We had to get the gardening company to change to non-reflective planters. Please don't kill him.

TheGander · 09/09/2022 10:50

Robins are very territorial. I wonder if you played the sound of a male Robin song ( easy to find on YouTube) would that put him off? Obviously it could backfire and make him come in to try and fight the “ intruder” . But maybe worth a try.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 09/09/2022 10:50

This reply has been deleted

Not in the spirit

ClumpingBambooIsALie · 09/09/2022 10:51

One did that in my tent. Flew in, shat on my sleeping bag, shat on A Clash of Kings, pissed back off.

No solutions, just sympathy.

HotPenguin · 09/09/2022 10:51

I would try scaring it off by hanging CD around your Windows, they don't like the reflection. Also the large bird silhouettes as suggested above.

YourUserNameMustBeAtLeast3Characters · 09/09/2022 10:51

I had a manic Robin years ago. It used to launch itself at the window constantly, drove me nutty as I was home on mat leave. I must not have had the Windows/ French doors open that summer (probably a wet one!).

Robins don’t live very long so it will be dead soon.

girlmom21 · 09/09/2022 10:52

I'd love it if I had a house robin!

jennakong · 09/09/2022 10:53

Good job you're not superstitious OP...

Why don't you just put some voile up at your windows, it's pretty cheap. Got some in B&M over the summer while son was waiting ages to get a new blind fitted, think it was £6 to cover his window.

Spanielsarepainless · 09/09/2022 10:58

It's not only unreasonable but illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, as is keeping it. Releasing it five miles away would work for the time it would take to fly back to its territory. Screen your windows or try feeding it (mealworms, sultanas, tiny cubes of mild cheese) in one specific place in the kitchen, On the doormat perhaps, so it doesn't go everywhere, then gradually move the feeding station to outside the door. They are bright birds and respond well to human training with food.