How to stop birds hitting windows is a question many of us ask when we sadly find a bird that has fatally collided into a window.
Watching our garden birds through the window is a simple pleasure in many of our lives. This makes it all the more heart breaking when you hear the dull thud of a confused bird flying into a window. Sometimes, if we’re lucky the bird is only stunned and will fly off a little later, but sadly this isn’t always the case.
Ultimately, there’s only so much we can do in protecting our feathered friends from the peril of windows. If you find a bird that has hit your window, it may just be stunned so leave it alone and check up on it later. You could also transfer the bird to a dark safe place to rest, from this it’ll either recover or die from its injuries. For further advice please contact your local wildlife charity which can be found at: Search the Rescue Directory.
Read on for some of the steps you can do to reduce the number of birds sadly hitting our windows.
Why Do Birds Hit Windows
Although sometimes birds collide with windows during a chase, this usually isn’t the reason. Most birds hit windows due to the reflections of trees and the sky, or because there’s another window visible making birds think there’s a flight path through. Double glazed windows are more deadly as they produce clearer reflections than those that are single glazed.
How To Prevent Birds Flying Into Windows
Reposition your bird feeders
It can be difficult to find the perfect position for our feeders. Too far away and you’ll miss all the fun, but too close and the window becomes deadly. Try to position your feeders in view from the window but at least 3 feet away, as this will reduce the risk of birds flying into it. To still get a good view of the birds you could even try using some bird watching binoculars to get a close up into their feeding activities.
You could also try using a bird feeder that attaches straight to the window. This may sound counter-intuitive however the sight of food will slow the birds down, and can reduce the chance of any window collisions being fatal.
Shop here at: Garden Wildlife Direct Window Feeders
Nature's Market Window Bird Feeder
Turn the lights off
As well as being environmentally friendly and money-saving, turning off lights in unused rooms will help reduce the chance of nocturnal birds getting confused and flying towards the glass.
Try using curtains or blinds
When you’re using a room it’s great to enjoy the view from your window of wildlife and garden birds. However, when you leave the room try closing any curtains or blinds to block the light. This helps the birds as they’ll no longer see a space or light behind the window, so are far less likely to fly into it. This is especially helpful with large windows and patio doors. Vertical blinds are also highly effective as they can be angled so you can still see outside, whilst reducing the view of any potential flight paths.
Window Stickers
If you’re unable to use curtains or blinds, or would simply rather enjoy the view at all times, window stickers are a fantastic alternative. Window alert stickers for birds reflect ultraviolet light that we as humans can’t see, but glow brightly for birds reducing the chance of birds flying into the glass windows.
Jacobi Jayne Leaf Window Alert
Jacobi Jayne Butterfly Window Alert
If you’d like to learn more about how to attract birds to your garden read our guide: Top ten tips for attracting wild birds to your garden
Please be aware that all methods mentioned aim to greatly reduce collisions, but can’t completely eradicate them. If you have anymore helpful tips please leave in the comments below.
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A crow pecked at the windows of the two bedrooms at the back of our house, which adjoins arable farmland. At dawn. Loudly. No doubt he saw his reflection and thought he was seeing a rival. Much as I like to encourage wildlife of all sorts, I didn’t really appreciate this. I sprayed a mixture of flour and water over the outside of the windows, which worked beautifully!
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