If you’ve had the unfortunate experience of hearing a loud thunk on your window only to go outside and find a bird motionless on the floor, you know how heartbreaking it is. In some cases, birds survive but not always. The good news is that you can take preventive measures to keep this from happening. Discover five steps you can take to stop birds from flying into your windows!
5 Steps You Can Take to Stop Birds From Flying Into Your Windows
1. Be Mindful About Bird Feeder Placement
Birdfeeders attract a variety of birds and if you enjoy birdwatching, you know how lovely it is to sip on your coffee, look outside your window, and take in their beauty and unique colors. The problem with setting up a birdfeeder too close to your windows is that if a bird is spooked, it panics and tries to quickly fly away. It may not realize that it’s flying directly into your window.
It’s best to place birdfeeders further away from your home (think a minimum of three feet and a maximum of 30 feet). This way, if something spooks a bird, it’s able to fly away swiftly without immediately crashing into your windows. The further away it is, the safer it is for them. That just means to get a closer look, you should set up your binoculars right next to your favorite birdwatching spot.
Place bird feeders away from windows to prevent birds from accidentally flying into them.
©michael christmas/Shutterstock.com
2. Don’t Go Screen-less
When the weather cools down and the critters have all gone into hiding, it can be tempting to remove your screen from your windows and let the fresh air into your home. However, screens serve another purpose other than keeping critters out of your home. They create a barrier on your window that prevents it from reflecting and appearing as an open space.
A bird is much more likely to fly into a window that perfectly reflects the environment than it is one that has a screen properly in place. So, while it might be tempting, only remove your screens if you need to clean them and then quickly pop them back in.
3. Get Creative With Decals
You can protect birds by getting creative. There are tons of fun decals you can use to set up on your window. The idea here is much like keeping the screen in place. You want to prevent the window from perfectly reflecting its surroundings.
This keeps birds from getting confused and thinking there is open space when there is only glass. You can try decals of other types of birds, or butterflies, or you can attach something more solid that features a unique design. These still allow light in but keep your windows from being reflective.
4. Use Your Blinds and Curtains
When the sun shines directly into your windows, it can really heat up your space. If you have blinds or curtains, shut them to keep your space cooler during warmer months and to ensure birds know that there’s no space to fly into. Closing your blinds or pulling your curtains closed prevents your windows from displaying the inviting sky in their reflection, which keeps birds from flying into them.
If you’re working with blinds, you don’t even have to close them all the way. Just closing them halfway helps to break up that reflection and allows you to still get the light of the day inside your home. These little tips and tricks are extremely helpful, especially if you have the kind of home where windows are set up opposite from each other in a room, which may lead a bird to think that it can fly through your home to the other side.
Simply closing your curtains can help prevent birds from flying into your windows.
©Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com
5. Add A Little Paint
The washable kind! This tip is especially fun if you have kiddos in the home who would love an art project. Using washable paint, have them use their imaginations to create a one-of-a-kind painting on your windows. This reduces the reflection from a bird’s perspective and provides you with a unique art gallery in your home. Even if you don’t have kiddos, try out the washable paint. It’s a fun project for all ages that reduces stress while protecting the birds in your environment.
However you decide to keep reflections at a minimum is up to you. You have loads of options. You could use a window film that can keep your room cooler during warm months or provide you with extra privacy, you can install shutters, or even invest in glass that’s bird-friendly. There are specialized products specifically to keep birds from flying into your window that you can explore, or you can just get creative and go for a budget-friendly option.
