What Was That?! How to Save a Bird Who Flew Into Your Window
This is something that you're more likely to hear than see happen, but it does occur very frequently. Have you ever seen or heard a bird fly into a window?
I'm sure some of you can relate, so I'll paint the picture. You're sitting in your kitchen drinking a cup of coffee, things are quiet, and then BOOM! You hear a loud thumb or crash against one of the windows. You investigate and find a bird who has apparently flown smack into your window and seems a little dazed. In the cartoons, when they suffered a hit to the head, they would see little birdies, but what do birds see when they knock themselves silly?
Either way, when this happens, you wonder if birds can see the window. I mean I've seen people walked into glass doors, so I get that it can happen. So birds perceive glass reflections of vegetation, landscapes, or sky to be real. They attempt to reach their habitat, open spaces, or other attractive features visible through either glass surfaces or free-standing glass.
Birds tend to collide with glass at high speeds and their small bodies and could leave them particularly vulnerable to injury. These collisions are more likely to occur in the spring and fall migration, as birds move between northern breeding grounds and southern wintering grounds. However, birds can't see glass and the dangers exist throughout the year around bird feeders and birdbaths.
There are a number of things you can do to prevent birds from flying into your windows. they range from decals, stickers, sun catchers on the outside surface of the window to netting that will allow the birds to bounce off without injury.