As gardeners who value biodiversity, we enjoy seeing the bluebirds raising their young and eating mealworms we provide in the winter. We see woodpeckers (hairy, downy, red bellied) on the suet feeder most days. And many other birds frequent the garden looking for insects or nesting materials. When I heard a loud “thunk” last week, I knew we had a bird strike. I felt distress seeing a red bellied woodpecker on the ground below the kitchen window. This bird struck a window in close proximity to a predator decal, so clearly, we needed to do more. Even when the bird is able to fly away, as this one was, it’s likely that it sustained internal injuries from which it may not recover.

The next day I drew vertical lines 4” apart on the inside of clean windows with a white pen which works well on glass. The  4” span is one that birds are loathe to fly “through” and it has been suggested that they may interpret the lines as spider webs. (I didn’t know birds don’t care to fly through spider webs.) Horizontal lines are not necessary because the vertical lines alone ward off the birds. We may still need to find a better solution if we have another strike, but we’re hoping that this simple technique will keep the birds we love from trying to fly to the reflection of the natural setting they see in the windows. The lines are barely noticeable from either inside or outside, although they’re probably obvious to our bird friends with their keen eyesight. I found the idea for this solution here: Incredibly simple tip to prevent birds flying into window

Have you found an effective way to protect birds from the windows in your home? Please share your ideas!

• Facebook
• X
• Bluesky
• Mail

---

Photos by Terri Litchfield unless otherwise noted
© Terri Litchfield, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)