We have all seen birds fly or crash into windows. This can be devastating, and as a result they are often seriously injured or killed.  Why do birds do this?  What are some simple things you can do to keep this from happening your birds?  Can they be attacking the house, or are they upset by something they see inside the house?

It's generally agreed that it's not something they see inside the building that gets their attention.  Birds will seldom have any real interest in the inside of the house.  More often they can't even see the interior of the building.  What gets their attention is the reflection of the outside world on the window, the clouds and the reflections of other birds. This obviously will happen more often for windows that have a reflective coating or some type of tinting to keep the sun out, but often it will happen with ordinary nontinted windows, more-so if the inside is dark and it's bright daylight outside.



So if reflections off the windows are the major part of the problem, what are some simple things to do to help?

Most solutions to keeping birds from crashing into windows focus on changing the appearance of the window to keep it from reflecting the outside environment.  For the case of windows that don't have a solar tinting the window a possible solution might be as simple as drawing the shades.  This will be more effective if the shades have a light colored backing, making them more visible to the outside.
Other possible solutions involve changing the outside view of the windows, once again focussing on reducing reflections the birds see on the window.  Often the easiest thing to do is to put screens on the windows that attract the birds.  Not only does this reduce the reflections seen on the window, it also obscures the view into the window, and the window is cushioned so the birds may not be injured if they were to fly somehow fly into it anyway.

Of course, screens just won't work in some cases, for example on a large window like a picture window.  There are some commercial available solutions, for example Droll Yankees makes a Window Warning Web.  This looks like a large artificial web that is placed over the window resembling a spider web.  Since it's a web it does a reasonable job of maintaining the view out the window. Many birds will avoid a web entanglement. 

For a home made approach, you can do basically the same thing with simple decorative ribbon, criss-crossing it across the window to create a pattern like a web.  With care and a little creativity you can come up with something that will not obstruct the view much.

If you are only seeing this problem during a short season each year, for example in the nesting season, you may want to use a simple coating on the window. Some simple to remove coloring like soap or shoe polish will be quite visible to the birds, and will come off fairly easily once the nesting season is over.

Some people like attach decals to the window.   There are some commercially available decals that resemble owls and other creatures.  This can be effective, but many times people think these tend to dominate the view out the window.  

Finally, one of the more effective things to do is the lazy man's solution.  Simply leave the windows dirty enough on the outside that they are no longer reflective, and the slightly opaque look with serve to keep the birds away.  

Of course, one of the safest things to do might just be to move the birds away from the windows. If you have a birdhouse, bird bath or bird feeder that is located near the window, try moving your bird feeder or house further from the window, or at least move it to one side so the birds will not be flying near the window.  This is of course inexpensive yet fairly effective.