Solutions to Put a Stop To Birds Flying Into Windows

Not again! That sickening thud. You run to the window hoping to see it flying away. Oh, thank goodness, there it goes. A little worse for wear and a bit erratic… but it’s alive!

Too many times you’ve rushed to the window only to find a stunned or injured wild bird lying motionless on the ground. Even worse is discovering that it’s actually dead.

Other than boarding up the windows, what’s a person to do to keep it from happening again?

What can we do to eliminate birds flying into windows?

Fortunately, there are some solutions… some are homemade and others are commercial.

But first, do you know why wild birds fly into windows?

Knowing why wild birds fly into windows is the first step…

They crash into windows because they are flying toward what they see… trees and sky reflected in the windows. Normal take-off speed won’t usually kill them, but panicked speed often does. So, what makes them panic?

Either a hawk or some other bird of prey has flown by, or a cat has just blown its cover. Or, some “chicken little” in the flock has just shrieked “Danger! The sky is falling!”

Whatever the reason, here’s what you can do to help them… and possibly eliminate birds flying into windows around your property. (Also check out the reasons for Birds Flying Into Windows for more information.)

How to prevent wild birds flying into windows…

It’s as simple as breaking up the reflection in the window. Folks report varying success with each of these methods… listed in order of success, from greatest to least successful:

Move bird feeders and bird baths… This is highly successful, and especially easy and inexpensive to accomplish (and why it’s listed first).

Move the feeders and baths very close to the house. The theory here is that the birds will take off in a direction away from the house, or at least if they do strike a window there’s not enough room for them to build up enough speed to harm themselves.

You could also locate your bird feeders and baths some distance from your home. If birds have to make a panic-escape, they will be closer to real trees than to your house. Of course, you could locate feeders and baths in both locations…

Hang fine-mesh netting or screening material in front of the window… This is also highly successful. Nearly everyone who has tried this reports success. Our thought is that the rest just didn’t apply the screening correctly.

The theory here is that the screening prevents birds from seeing any reflection at all. It has the added benefit of cushioning any collisions, should they occur.

Run string or twine from corner to corner, crossing the string in the center of the window… Tie several ribbons or strips cut from plastic grocery bags in the center and elsewhere on the string.

The theory is that the birds focus on the movement instead of the reflection behind it… they don’t see the reflected sky and trees. They see a barrier instead of “clear sailing”.

Affix painters tape or masking tape in a small grid… The key to success with this one is to put the tape on the outside of the window (to prevent reflection) in a small grid pattern.

Again, the theory is that it will look like a barrier to wild song birds, rather than a means of escape.

Affix decals to the outside of the window… The jury’s still out on this one. Nearly all of those reporting success used a commercial product that is inconspicuous to the human eye, but is like a glaring neon to birds’ eyes.

Apparently, the theory is that birds will fly away from the glare. We also assume that the more decals there are, the more successful they become.

Hang feathers on the outside of the window… The jury is definitely in on this one… we haven’t found anyone who recommends it.

Probably the only way this would really work would be to apply them to string as described in a previous method.

Hopefully, you can now lessen or even completely avoid that horrible thud against your windows.

None of us can do much about predatory hawks or cats, but we can certainly give wild birds a safe escape route. One that doesn’t include flying into that looking glass of a window.

If you’ve had success with the above methods, or especially if you have come up with another way to eliminate birds flying into windows, share it with all of us in a comment below.

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