Lately, a bird has been sitting on the lilac bush outside my office window. Oddly, he (or she) faces the window as if watching me work.
Periodically, I hear something bump against the window, which I took for one of the branches. Then I realized that it was the bird flinging him or herself against the windowpane. I thought that it might see a reflection of the greater outdoors in the window so I put Post-it Notes to break up the reflection. It didn’t work.
I can’t figure out what this bird wants with my office, but every day it tries to get in one of two windows and it’s starting to creep me out–I saw Hitchcock’s The Birds at an impressionable age.
If there are any ornithologists out there who can explain why this bird is mesmerized with my office, I’d sure like to know.
Hey – it’s cold out there! maybe he/she needs a hat & scarf? Try a cling of an owl – it will chase the bird away. 🙂
He may just want attention, or he may be looking for warmth. He might have been a captive bird and got away somehow and now he doesn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t worry about “The Birds” unless you see crows and sea gulls amassing lol.
Their vision isn’t that good. Maybe the lights in your office attract them.
Don’t feel alone, Creeps me out also.
I am suspicous of flocks of birds.
Who sez movies don’t make it feel real
Luck 🙂
It looks like in might be a mocking bird. Not Sure because of the glare. They are very territorial birds. Is there any chance that this bird ever got in your house? The other thing that crosses my mind might be that it some how got separated from it’s flock during the recent bad weather. It maybe looking for help. You are right though, because they are very protective of there chosen area. you might try putting out some bird seed or a suet bar for it and see. It does not look like a bird someone owned. If you have a local bird store, give them a call and show them the pictures and they should be able to tell you. Other wise you may have a new friend and they are a very curious bird. I just happened to think that is you knit where he(she) can see it may be looking for some yarn pieces to line the nest. They also like dog fur, if you have a dog that you brush. Good-Luck, Kirsten .
Some birds are territorial. If they see their reflection, they think it’s another bird and they are trying to get it off their turf. They aren’t that bright…. It probably won’t stop, and by putting paper on the window it’s probably making him see his reflection even more.
Try putting a small mirror (3-4″ wide, I’ve used a small car mirror bfore) in the tree. He’ll attack the better reflection there instead of your window (he doesn’t get a run-up, less likely to hurt himself and cleaner windows for you).
We used to have a yellow-crested shrike-tit that attacked our kitchen window.
Hi Ann, one of the Knitting Pipeline listeners alerted me to your post as I have addressed this topic on the show. We have cardinals that do this as well as turkeys. The turkeys don’t fly into the window but stand in front and repeatedly peck. They can peck quite loudly. It is definitely territorial behavior. The bird is seeing its reflection in the window and is essentially fighting itself. Robins are among those that will do the same thing, sometimes to cars or any surface where they can see a reflection.
The best solution I found is a decal that is made by Duncraft: Duncraft’s Save-the-Birds solution for Bird Window Strikes. These are transluscent decals in the shape of birds that adhere to your window. The are intended for accidental strikes but work well for this territorial behavior also. Birds eye’s perceive the ultraviolet spectrum from the decal and stay away from the window. I don’t know why this works for the territorial behavior but it did for me. The male cardinals try a few times and then give up. It reduced the window pecking by 90% at first and it now rarely occurs. Birds are creatures of habit and you have to break the cycle of the habit.
Humans can see the decals but they do blend in with the glass and you get used to them. One or two should do the trick. They say to replace every 3 months but ours lasted a lot longer than that.
Good luck! I hope the decals work for you also.
It wants to see what you are knitting == just like the rest of us…
I occasionally walk into just cleaned and shined, clear-pristine windows that are actually walls and doors. I hate when offices have those type of ‘designer’ layouts, because I can’t see and I’m not a bird with an excuse. I wish they would use post it notes for me. Traditional wood doors are OKAY. Why do I need to see the entire room from the other side?