Stopping birds hitting windows

[flossydog]

Has anyone managed to stop birds hitting windows?

I've put up nets and made a CD mobile after three sparrow deaths this last year, but just got two more dead this week. Does anything work?

Removing the curse on your house maybe?

No but seriously thats a lot. I think we have had 1 bird fly into our window in 13 years and he didn't die, just dazed himself, hopped up on the wall and sat confused for a while then buggered off.

Whats causing it? is there a specific thing like are they panicked and trying to escape a bird of prey (although then they tend to swoop and catch them before they even hit the ground).

Do you have big glass windows? our school was all windows mostly and had several bird strike, think they just couldn't see the glass especially in the hall where the windows where like 2 stories high.

We had a dazed sparrow who flew into a window but survived after some quiet time in a cardboard box and sadly a goldfinch who must have hit it at the wrong angle. Since having a few pot plants on our windowsill we haven't had another one but that might just be luck. Window stickers or blinds or voiles can help as the bird can then see a barrier and avoids flying towards it.

Bird stickers on the windows work. If you have windows where you can see through to the front of the house from the back, birds probably think they can fly right though. Keep interior doors closed or curtains shut?

Some more ideas here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/why-birds-hit-windows-and-how-you-can-help-prevent-it/

thank you for caring!

You can buy special stickers on amazon for this and they do work

Don’t clean your windows as often!

We have big glass windows and for some reason, pigeons love to headbut them. Possibly the angle of light.

I bought some opaque star shaped stickers, put them on about a third down, and it stopped it.

https://www.glassfilms.eu/product/glass-films/speciality-window-films/bird-safety-window-film/bsf-db35-solar-bird-safety/

I've got the bird silhouette stickers. We still, e
very occasionally, maybe once every 3 years, get a strike, but vastly reduced.

We had these when we moved in 👆

We have changed windows now, and put vertical blinds up which has blocked the view from front to back. No bird strikes since.

A flock of about 20-30 house sparrows spend the entire day flying between my neighbour's back garden and the big hedge in street opposite, passing in the gap between our houses. I can only suppose some of them mistake the reflection in the window for open sky and try and take a shortcut into my house.

I've attached a diagram showing the existing netting and dangling CDs (where I couldn't reach to put netting. I'm not entirely sure if the net does anything or if they're just hitting the unnetted window or what.

@HobnobsChoice I hadn't thought of window boxes, that's a really nice idea. They might be dying from the long drop rather than the initial hit.

A lot of people suggesting window stickers (thanks!). I wasn't sure they really worked so it's nice to hear some positive testimony here.

We have around 50 blue tits, sparrows, robins and various other songbirds nesting in our mature hedges on the riverfront at the moment, so I completely understand how this is possible. We get at least one thud a day. Quite often, it's pigeons. So, since spring, we've had one outright casualty (it was tiny, I rescued it straight away but it couldn't revive it- put it in a box with airflow for up to an hour to recover, but it was already gone) and one who recovered and wobbled off only to be grabbed by a bastard opportunistic rat who could sense a dazed bird. I was watching it recover at the time :(

Anyway, some friends of mine who live elsewhere just bought the attached to resolve their problem, which seems like a really good idea to me. Their thudding birds are finches.

Looks like you don't even have to have large panes of glass for it to be a problem. We do both have one storey houses/bungalows though.

Your garden sounds lovely!

I've gone ahead and ordered some hummingbird decals which are like these butterflies. The window in question isn't one that's usually looked out of, so I don't mind cramming a lot of them on and seeing if it helps.