Window strikes are one of the key reasons behind the death of birds. A recent study reveals that several hundred million birds die after hitting transparent windows. Birds fly high in the sky with speed, often collide with window glass and are left to die. You might be thinking, How can I keep birds from flying into my windows? You can easily do it by yourself. It doesn’t require any special effort, and you can do it without much difficulty.
Bird Death From Window Collision
The National Audubon Society (NYS) discloses that hummingbirds and blue warblers come every year during spring and fall, traveling thousands of miles and facing the deadly threat of collision with windows. NYS research confirms that over one billion birds in the USA die each year after hitting windows. Only our relentlessness kills these innocent lives.
You will be happy to know that your small awareness can protect the lives of millions of these beautiful creatures of Earth. Let’s start to find the answer to this question: How can I keep birds from flying into my windows? Come, and together we make the world a beautiful place of living for all birds.
Why Birds Collide With Windows
Before you start exploring, how to keep birds away from flying into my windows? You must know why the birds often hit windows. In modern cities, most of the buildings and houses use transparent glass for an attractive look. We do not think much before putting on these transparent glasses about whether they could harm anything.
The transparent glasses that we use for intensifying the beauty of our houses reflect the light. The reflection of the sky and trees falls over the glasses and misleads the birds. They think it is real by mistake. Most of the birds fly at a high speed and collide heavily with the windows due to this.
On foggy or stormy nights, things become more difficult for them. They cannot identify the source of light, and confusion makes them have no choice but to die. The artificial light at night also creates illusion and creates bewilderment. So, this problem is not only a daytime problem, but it happens at night also. The reflection diverts the path of birds and puts them at risk.
How Can I Keep Birds From Flying Into My Windows?
Have you ever heard the thud of a bird hitting your window and lying motionless just after that? This heartbreaking incident is never easy to accept. Perhaps you wish you could stop this cruel thing from ever happening. Let’s see how you can protect them by adopting certain simple things.
- Cover windows with a light net to prevent reflection. Make at least a 2-3 inch gap between the glass and the net so that they can easily differentiate between reality and illusion. This is one creative idea that you can consider for a permanent solution.
- Take a soap and draw horizontal or vertical lines over the glasses, keeping at least a 1-2 inch gap between the lines, or you can make any design also for a beautiful aesthetic look. It is also a great approach for eliminating the chances of illusion. However, during heavy rain, the lines will fade away with water, and you have to draw the things again. So, it is a perfect temporary solution, but you have to think about anything else for a permanent setup.
- Keep a bird feeder and bath either 30 feet away from the window that will help the bird to fly away safely, or you can put it less than 3 feet from the window sothat the bird controls their speed while flying to take the food. These simple steps can easily make bird life safe.
- You can use fritted glass for windows, which is an opaque glass with spaced dots. The outer surface is highly visible to the birds and doesn’t create a reflection of light. These glasses also allow you to see the outside clearly without creating any problem.
- Use window decals for bird strike prevention. It is good decorative for the house and easily available in the market. Fix the decals for reducing the strike. Generally, it used to be prepared from vinyl and comes with various attractive decorations. Besides saving a bird’s life, you can decorate your house even more beautifully with colorful decals.
- If you have windows through which the outside is clearly visible and from outside everything is visible inside of the house, then this type of glass creates an imaginary flight path for a bird that never exists. The bird can not realize the actual flying path. Either avoid this type of glass or put shade upon the window to prevent any collision of a bird with the window.
- You can put a hawk simulation over your glasses to keep away birds from your window. Normally, birds do not like association with a hawk and maintain distance to avoid any conflict.
Success Stories
Various countries adopted bird protection initiatives for saving the lives of birds. Like, Georgia installed bird-friendly glasses to save them since the year 2022. Florida also introduced new construction, giving priority to protecting birds from window strikes. The University of Alabama has taken great initiative in installing bird-safe etched glass for protection.
Final Thought
We have discussed so far the way how can I keep birds from flying into my windows. With just some simple steps, you can preserve millions of bird lives. Already several countries have adopted these policies for protecting the biodiversity of nature. Take a small step and prevent the next collision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Why Do Birds Collide With Windows?
The transparent glasses create reflections of trees and skies on them, and the bird thinks it to be real and collides with the glass.
Q2. How Can I Keep Birds From Flying Into My Windows?
You can use opaque glasses, net to cover glass, or paint or draw something on glasses to avoid bird collision.
Q3. What To Do If A Bird Collides With Windows?
If any bird strikes your window and gets hurt so severely that it can’t fly, you can keep it inside for resting. In case of serious injuries, consult with the expert.
