Please tell me how to make the robin stop flying into my window!

[mfglickman]

I woke up this morning to a regular rapping sound. At first I thought it was a drip but it was coming from a part of the house where there is no water. I entered the room and saw a pretty robin, sitting outside the window on a rhododendron. He is flying into the window (plink) bouncing off then sitting on the branch for a second and trying again.

I covered the window with a piece of cardboard (from the inside) but that did not discourage him. He has been at it now since 7 AM and it is now 10:30! Help?

Thanks,
Mary

 

[firefighterjake]

Is it possible he is seeing his reflection and thinks it is another male bird to challenge him?

 

[mfglickman]

Is it possible he is seeing his reflection and thinks it is another male bird to challenge him?

Maybe. Should I go out front and chase him off? Pin a sheet to the OUTSIDE of the window (and be labeled neighborhood lunatic, lol)? I tried knocking on the window to scare him off but it did not deter him.

 

[firefighterjake]

Maybe. Should I go out front and chase him off? Pin a sheet to the OUTSIDE of the window (and be labeled neighborhood lunatic, lol)? I tried knocking on the window to scare him off but it did not deter him.

Tear open a feather pillow . . . glue the feathers to yourself . . . and then go outside and start making bird noises. That should take care of the problem . . . either the robin will be scared off and have one helluva story to tell his bird buddies -- or the cops will come by to blue paper you and haul you off to the funny farm. In either case, the prolblem would be solved.

Actually, I think I might go outside and see if that might deter him.

 

[billb3]

I'd cover the window.

Negotiations would be futile with a robin.

Or have roasted robin for supper.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

I had the same problem. I bought these clear clingon thingys sold at the wild bird store. They look clear to us but the birds see them as a color. I put 2 of them on the window and never had a problem since.
I know it is not a fast solution to your problem and you probably don't live right down the street from a wild bird store, but just wanted to share my solution.

 

[fossil]

Get a helium filled mylar balloon at the grocery store & float it up right inside the window & fasten the string with tape or something. We did this in two bedroom windows and it actually worked.

 

[lukem]

Shoot it....or let him keep doing it until he develops enough brain damage he is no longer capable/interested .

Seriously, just put something on the window...he sees his reflection...and that other handsome bird he sees is invading his territory...and putting a whoopin on him.

 

[Jags]

A piece of screen (on the outside) over the window he is bonking off of will cure it in short order. AND your neighbors won't be looking at you with their cell phone in hand.

 

[mfglickman]

Thanks all! My house has old-fashioned storms hung from the top of the windows so what he was hitting was the storm; the screens are not in. I put cardboard, a t shirt and a pillow on the inside of the window but that just seemed to excite him more (maybe made the threatening bird appear more real). So I went outside and shooed him away. He went to the next bush in front of the next window down...ha! But so far he has not attacked that window, he's just sitting there disgruntled.

He had apparently worked himself into quite a frenzy, judging by the amount of white mess under the window that he'd been banging into all morning....

I will look into those clingies if this becomes a more common problem. Robin is not my idea of dinner...

Thanks again!

Mary

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Mary, Gamma Ray is right. The bird is seeing a reflection and thinks it is another bird. Even worse acting are the cardinals. Covering the inside of the window does nothing as it can still see the reflection on the outside.

We have the same problem if we are not careful, especially with the sliding glass door. Window stick-ons help a lot but even better, my wife strung a clothes line above the porch railing and has some wind spinners dangling from the line. During the winter we have a wood box there and she sits some lawn ornaments on top of the wood box. We do still have an occasional crash but not very often. Yesterday one hit the window but not very hard. I think it must have been on the clothes line and flew toward the window which was close so did not hit hard.

 

[fishingpol]

Those window clings shaped like a falcon or hawk supposedly work. It looks like the shadow of a predator. Sometimes bird collision imprints are really neat to look at if the sun hits it right. The dust imprints show great feather detail.

(broken link removed to http://www.duncraft.com/index/page/product/product_id/3203/category_id/227/product_name/Bird-Safe%C2%AE+Hawk+Window+Strike+Decals)

 

[GAMMA RAY]

Those window clings shaped like a falcon or hawk supposedly work. It looks like the shadow of a predator. Sometimes bird collision imprints are really neat to look at if the sun hits it right. The dust imprints show great feather detail.

(broken link removed to http://www.duncraft.com/index/page/product/product_id/3203/category_id/227/product_name/Bird-Safe%C2%AE+Hawk+Window+Strike+Decals)

I have the "leaf" ones...and they did the job.

 

[firefighterjake]

Those window clings shaped like a falcon or hawk supposedly work. It looks like the shadow of a predator. Sometimes bird collision imprints are really neat to look at if the sun hits it right. The dust imprints show great feather detail.

(broken link removed to http://www.duncraft.com/index/page/product/product_id/3203/category_id/227/product_name/Bird-Safe%C2%AE+Hawk+Window+Strike+Decals)

I have decals that show a roasted turkey dinner with all the trimmings on one window . . . and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken on the other . . . these seem to work pretty well as well.

 

[billb3]

It's usually the orioles doing that here and going from window to window or the rear view mirrors on the car.

 

[rover47]

At my inlaws, who have picture windows in the corner of the living room, the birds would look thru one window and see out the other and would try to fly thru. Crashed into the windows until the curtain was close on one window.!

 

[mfglickman]

Well he's been at it now for 2 days. We've shooed him away a few times, and I tried to get a video of him but donthcha know he'd stop whenever the iPhone was set up on the desk. He stopped when it got dark last night and started up again by 6 this morning. Gah. I'm tempted to just let Natural Selection take its course here...

See if the link works....

http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/superdog_photos/?action=view&current=1335905853.mp4

 

[fishingpol]

I have decals that show a roasted turkey dinner with all the trimmings on one window . . . and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken on the other . . . these seem to work pretty well as well.

Jake, I hear the Moxie stickers keep everyone away...

 

[Pallet Pete]

Growing up we put screen over the windows every spring the birds would fly right into it because they thought they saw more birds in the reflection. We would be sitting there reading eating and so on the next thing you would hear was bong thud bang and at least 5 birds would bang into the big picture window. The screen over the outside cured this problem and killed the reflection then about a month after we could take it back down again. My parents still do the screen to this day and the birds still announce there arrival back in Michigan with a bang.

Pete

 

[Dune]

My brother has a sparrow (?) that attacks the passenger side mirror of all his vehicles. It has been going on for a year, there is no stopping the bird. It has actually caused significant damage to the vehicles. I suggest killing it as the only solution.

 

[mfglickman]

Here he is, still going strong since Monday!

 

[thewoodlands]

I woke up this morning to a regular rapping sound. At first I thought it was a drip but it was coming from a part of the house where there is no water. I entered the room and saw a pretty robin, sitting outside the window on a rhododendron. He is flying into the window (plink) bouncing off then sitting on the branch for a second and trying again.

I covered the window with a piece of cardboard (from the inside) but that did not discourage him. He has been at it now since 7 AM and it is now 10:30! Help?

Thanks,
Mary

http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Cardinals-Windows.html

Give some of these a try first Mary.

Zap

 

[eclecticcottage]

Try a pinwheel? I bet there's a nest very nearby and he's trying to keep "the other male" away.

 

[Eatonpcat]

Open the window...Problem solved LOL!