Wind chimes?

Ginny

I never thought of that. I'm just afraid that would chase them away from the feeder to. It's also on the north side and we get a lot of north winds. The chimes may not be such a great idea. Now if I could just figure out what attracts them to the window.

We used to have that in one of our houses I think it was the reflection they were flying into because from the yard it appeared to be an open sky with trees below. That was a south window so the sun made it just like a mirror. You try hanging fishing line down from your overhang with weights they don't like their wings touching things might work and shouldn't block your view.

The explanation I've always heard it that they see the sky reflected in the glass so think the flight path is clear sailing. Put up some Christmassy ornaments or decals on the window but make sure they are something that can easily be seen through the glass.

My windows are mostly old with small individual panes, and the ones we've replaced have grilles that look like panes. I have never had a single bird fly into the window.

I used to have the sun catchers in the window thinking that would deter them but no such luck! With the blind pulled they can't see their reflection so I can't figure out what attracts them.

a blind on the inside of a house will not stop the reflection on the outside it may actually enhance it by not having the inside things showing through the window.

We have a basement window that every year one stupid robin will continue to flutter against/hit over and over! I'm talking an hour or more at a time, day after day. They (or it, I'm not sure)don't actually fly into it, but they bang against it constantly. In the fall, when I wash the windows, it is all muddy and covered with smudges. I have no idea what it thinks is inside. A good place to have a nest?!

Anyway, that was completely unhelpful, but I just wanted you to know you aren't alone with bird/window problems. :)

I have many bird collisions with various windows. I think it is the location of the trees in my area. They come swooping in to get the berries and smack into the windows.
It is a huge concern for me because I have a sunroom with windows on three sides, so lots of opportunity for disasters.

I've read that decals etc. don't help at all. But one site I found recommended hanging screens on the outside of problem windows. That will cushion the impact. I might consider that for the sunroom, as I wouldn't mind blocking out some of the sun in the summer anyway. I could try it on the west and east sides as they seem to be the worst.

According to the bird site I was on, most birds that fly away after a collision still die.

I get birds hitting windows, too. And some birds are worse than others - house sparrows, for example, never hit the windows, but I've picked up lots of dead Cedar Waxwings that hit windows on the house and the garage. Big birds, like crows, blue jays, small hawks, rarely hit but those little redpolls hit frequently.

I think the best method to curb the window hits while still inviting birds is to have some branches in front of the window for them to swoop in and perch on - like maybe a few tall willow or dogwood branches firmly pushed in the ground below the window, or fashion a light twig trellis. Or grow a small tree in front of the window. One year I had tall castor bean plants growing in front of the window - awesome view of the birds pirched in the plants and no window hits.

Our house is a bi-level so the branches aren't an option. We leave our blinds (mini-blinds) down but with the slats open and that helps a bit.

Weeper, the robin is attacking his reflection thinking it's an intruder on his territory!

O.K., I was thinking about what to do and then I realized that all the dead birds were dark eyed juncos. We've never had them before! We've only been here a few years and we had red polls, sparrow and chickadees hit the window a few times but they learned to ignore it. These Juncos are new so do you think they may be learning their way around and that's what's causing it? The window is on the north side and gets no direct sun and the overhang stops any reflection so I don't see that as the problem. Marg

Most often this happens in spring and fall when birds migrate.
In link below some ideas on what to do.
Two times in a row in spring I've seen a male junco standing on the window sill and jumping towards the window. This was at the Devonian Garden in one of the trailers in the woods we had scion wood exchange. Trees & shrub branches were inches away, probably it was reflection.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Stop Birds from Flying into Your Windows

Marcia, seriously?! That is a bit hilarious. Poor, limited-brain-capacity robins! Hopefully he/she didn't hurt itself, anyway. It made a mess of the window until it was so dirty it could see it's reflection anymore!

Yes, really! I've heard of robins and other birds doing it too. One that i heard of was a robin attacking itself in a car mirror! It would be a male defending its territory - explains a lot, doesn't it? LOL

Juncoes are really, really naive. When I was growing up we had big picture windows and juncoes were always flying into them, and the cat also didn't seem to have much trouble catching them.