kamikaze bird problem?
Hi,
One reason I bought my eichler were the fantastic 10 foot floor to ceiling windows in my living room. I really don't want to put up curtains, but birds keep flying into my windows and killing themselves!
I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem and solved it without putting up curtains?
Thanks,
Gabrielle
It's the reflection that the birds think another bird is encroaching on its territory-must be some way to make the glass less reflective but still let
'the outside in'.
I had this problem the first year or two I was in my atrium model Eichler in Fairglen tract (San Jose). I was having a serious problem, some were dying, other stunned-- I even had a small predatory bird (hawk?) injured and had to have Wildlife people come and get him. It was driving me nuts.
Then I remembered seeing hawk silhouettes on the expanses of glass at the Science Center in Toronto. I called them and with a lot of help on their part, procured a set of hawk silhouettes.
There is nothing magic to this and you could make your own. Mine are black on one side with white peel-off adhesive on the other. I decided to leave the adhesive on and simply put them up with a piece of transparent tape. Looking out from the living room, you see the white side (so blends not too badly with the sky), from the outside you see the black.
These have worked wonders for me. My only casualty this year was luckily simply stunned and was able to fly away. But when I heard him hit, I was surprised (it had been so long) and then realized I removed the silhouettes for window cleaning the week before and had forgotten to put them back up. They're back up now and so far, so good.
I don't think they are foolproof but my experience is that it has dramatically reduced (to practically zero) the number of birds hitting my windows especially this time of year.
Dimensions: approx 18" wingtip to wingtip, approx 9" beak tip to tail tip (slightly smaller dimension would likely work).
If you post your email address, I'll take a picture to email you.
Good luck.
Jake
P.S. In my case they were hitting on the east/west oriented windows.
Thanks for the responses!
After I posted this I googled this subject and lots of sites say the hawk silhouettes don't work, so I'm really interested to hear that they have worked for you! I found several sites which posted the silhouettes for free, like these:
http://www.twrc-houston.org/wildlife/silhouette1.pdf
http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/parks/resources/birds3.htm
I also thought of hanging some strings of tinsel which they seem to use in Napa to keep the birds off the grapes.
Well, thanks again. I've only been in my house 6 weeks and have already had 3 dead birds, 2 of which died right in front of me. I have to do something!
I wasn't aware there were silhouettes for free on the web--makes sense though. The second one you reference, from the Audobon site, looks closest to mine although theirs is at a 1/4 turn and mine is flat out.
I note that the Science Center in Toronto used them and I assume found them useful. I mentioned your posting to my spouse who also commented what a dramatic improvement we've seen since we started to use them.
Anyway, can't hurt to try. Beats just waiting for the next one to hit--ugh.
If it doesn't reduce the problem, at least you'll know you've tried.
Jake
>> The second one you reference, from the Audobon site,
>> looks closest to mine although theirs is at a 1/4 turn
>> and mine is flat out.
Sorry, I meant the Fairfax County Park Authority.
Jake
I am sure glad this subject came up, as I currrently have a beautiful orange bird, dead as a doornail, on my front patio. They hit the glass so often that we are burying at least 1 or 2 per month, not to mention having to constantly clean feathers off the glass from the luckier ones that escape with their lives.
I found a source of plastic stick-on "decorations" in bright colors and geometric shapes (Solutions Catalog) and have contemplated trying them, not as a way to scare the birds away from the glass, but as a way to let them know it is there in the first place. I must say that Jake's solution does sound promising....
Cathye
Thanks I need to look into one.
My Irish Wife will be very happy.
Michael C
I wasn't aware there were silhouettes for free on the web--makes sense though. The second one you reference, from the Audobon site, looks closest to mine although theirs is at a 1/4 turn and mine is flat out.
I note that the Science Center in Toronto used them and I assume found them useful. I mentioned your posting to my spouse who also commented what a dramatic improvement we've seen since we started to use them.
Anyway, can't hurt to try. Beats just waiting for the next one to hit--ugh.
If it doesn't reduce the problem, at least you'll know you've tried.
Jake
