Expert: Julia Booth - 4/20/2008

Question
i've had a robin flying into my living windows for the past 3 weeks. i've hung windchimes, a bird decoration &etc. what do i do to get the bird to quit flying into my windows? its from daylight to dark. can u please help me?

Answer
I think I answer this question more often than any other.

I'm going to copy my previous response...

Typically birds fly into windows for two reasons.

1. They have terrible depth perception and cannot tell how far away the window actually is.

2. They are displaying aggressive and territorial behavior because they are seeing their own reflection and mistaking it for another bird.

Considering the time of year, I'm going with number 2.

My first suggestion would be to paper the windows so they are no longer reflective. That's rather inconvenient, of course.

Secondly, I recommend buying some small, cheap mirrors (or similarly shiny objects) and hanging them around your house and garden to distract him. Even consider putting out some artificial birds in the trees or something. -Although it sounds like you already did that.

Chances are that this is just mating related behavior and it will subside when Spring ends.