Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!world!rmura From: rmura@world.std.com (Ron Mura) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: Help on stopping kamekaze birds Message-ID: Date: 12 Dec 90 01:30:57 GMT References: <759@isgtec.UUCP> Sender: rmura@world.std.com (Ron Mura) Organization: The World Lines: 32 In-Reply-To: ted@isgtec.uucp's message of 11 Dec 90 17:30:58 GMT In article <759@isgtec.UUCP> ted@isgtec.uucp (Ted Richards) writes: > > We have a number of bird feeders in our yard and are having problems > with birds smashing into our [large] windows lately, two of which > died as a result. The very first evening grossbeak that I have seen > in four years of bird feeding, was lying dead on the ground under the > window :-( > > We tried taping silhouettes of diving hawks high up on the outside of > the windows (a frequently recommended solution), but it hasn't helped. We have had the same problem, especially when the birds are scared by a hawk or a cat that wanders into the yard. The birds see the reflection of sky and trees and think they can fly through. I put those yellow "post-its" on the windows (on the outside). Despite the wind, rain, and snow, they stay on for at least a year. If you put one per 324 sq. inches or so (an area 1.5 feet square), they work well. (The hawk stickers work, to the extent that they do, by showing the birds that there is a solid barrier, not because of their silhouettes. If you used more of them, they would probably work too, although I think the yellow color of the post-its might give a little more advance warning.) I have also changed the location of our feeders, so that they are farther away from an "L" in the house, where birds might get more trapped and panicked when fleeing. We can't see them quite as well as before, but that's better than having dead birds--even one dead one is too many. -- - Ron Mura, Boston, Mass. rmura@world.std.com