Birds have excellent eyesight; it’s their dominant sense. From great distances, they can spot fish swimming in water, mice burrowing through leaves, worms wiggling in the soil, and moths flitting through vegetation. Some birds of prey can even see a small rodent as far as five miles away.
But birds cannot see glass.
In the United States alone, almost a billion birds die each when they collide with windows. Even when birds survive a collision and are merely stunned, they usually fall victim to predators such as cats, dogs, and raccoons before they recover.
When glass is clear, birds see what is reflected on the glass, which is usually a backyard landscape. Here are a few simple measures to prevent birds from flying into your picture window.
1. Adhesive film applied to the outside of your window cuts down on reflections, at the same time allowing ample light to shine through.
2. Place bird feeder or birdbaths away from windows.
3. Hang stripes of yard, ribbon, aluminum silhouettes of hawks, all of which move, in front of windows. Pasting decals on the glass does not help.
4. Look into installing patterned glass, such as frosted or etched glass, which is visible to birds.
5. Hang plants or wind chimes near windows. They provide movement, which breaks up the reflection.
6. Installing an awning provides a shadow and reduces glare.
7. Adding outside screens cuts down on the reflection as well.
For more information, logon to www.abcbirds.org