Photo: Indigo Bunting, Art Fox
By Tom Blackburn
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were enjoying breakfast when we heard a loud thump at our large dining room window. We’d heard that sound before, so we went outside to see if we could find the injured bird that had hit the window. We couldn’t find it, but that didn’t mean that the bird had survived. In many cases, a bird that hits a window dies shortly afterwards due to injury to its brain or body. In fact, most birds that are killed by window collisions are not found. They fly off and die later or are quickly scooped up by alert predators.
Indigo Bunting, Art Fox
This was the last straw for us, so I went off to learn what I could do to protect against bird-window collisions. But first, I got a stepladder and climbed up so I was even with the middle of the window to see what the birds see. It was amazing. There in the middle of the house was an inviting scene with bushes, trees and sky – all reflected perfectly in the window. No wonder the birds fly into it!
We settled on Acopian Bird Savers as a deterrent to bird-window collisions. This is a series of dark cords spaced 4 inches apart and suspended from above the window so they hang down to the bottom. You can buy them or make them yourself very easily. The 4-inch spacing is important since birds will be tempted to fly through the open spaces if they are any larger. They don’t interfere with our view; we tend to look right past them.
There are lots of other ways to protect against bird-window collisions. The American Bird Conservancy has a good list of resources on how to stop birds hitting windows. And it’s important. Bird-window collisions kill as many as one billion birds per year – 44% of them from hitting residential buildings.
You can learn even more about preventing birds from hitting your windows at a special program co-sponsored by ASNV and the Walker Nature Center. It will be held at the Walker Nature Center, 11450 Glade Drive in Reston, on March 19. Put it on your calendar! We’ll have more information on the event as we get closer to the date.