Demented Cardinal

[Rocky]

This is completely off topic for wine or beer making, but you guys are so helpful in these areas, maybe you can help on an unrelated subject.


This year, as in virtually every year, I have a female cardinal banging on my windows. I am sure she thinks she is seeing another female cardinal in her reflection and wants to keepthe intruder"away from her man!" It is really annoying and I will not do anything harmful to the bird. Any suggestions out there?


I am beginning to see where the term "bird brained" comes from.

 

[grapeman]

Oh shucks, I thought it was going to be some sort of joke about a rabbi, a priest and a cardinal.......or something. No suggestions I can think of.

 

[Rocky]

Rich,
I like having birds in the yard and we have two pairs of cardinals. This one nested in a mugho pine near the house. Every time she returns to the nest, she sees her reflection in the window and starts pecking at it. I don't think she could break the window, but she will surely have a sore beak. One of our neighbors had the same issue and shot the poor bird. I will live with the problem before I would do that.

 

[Flem]

Rocky, That's really funny. I have the same thing happening, although I believe mine is a male. He will fly into several different windows in the house, off and on, all day long. He has been doing this for about 3 weeks. It also happened a couple of years ago. He finally quit.

 

[Scott]

Everytime the bird comes to the window, jump up necked and yell.

 

[robie]

Everytime the bird comes to the window, jump up necked and yell.

He doesn't want to kill the bird, just scare it off!

I miss seeing cardinals. Be glad you have cardinals, we don't have them here in Colorado. But yes, they can be a nuisance sometimes, can't they?

Also miss Mockingbirds, which we don't get here, either.

 

[Wade E]

I wonder what would happen if you put a mirror there!!!

 

[Rocky]

Richard,
I know what you mean about mockingbirds. We had a little guy up in New York who would get up on our roof around midnight and he would go through his whole repertoire. It was really funny. He could not sleeps so none of us were going to either.

 

[lieu]

Jump up necked and yell. Now thats funny.

.I have a few cardinals in the yard but they never fly into my windows. I have had birds fly into windows before but i believe that they could'nt see the glass. The few times it has happened the birds did not flt away.
Speaking of birds in the yards I saw my first hummimgbird of the year yesterday.

Hey Rocky, maybe you should put some bubble wrap on the outside of your window. At least she won't have a soar beak.

 

[Rocky]

Bruce,
I have had a few Kamikase birds fly into my windows and it was their last flight. Mostly these are sparrows. I try to attract as many to my yard as possible so I have a number of houses and feeding stations. I have not seen a hummingbird yet this year (nothing is really in bloom and I have not put out the nectar feeder). I had some last year living in a Norway Spruce on my property. They buzz around our patio and areinteresting to watch. My dogs do not bother them so my yard is a haven for birds. So far this year I have seen Robins, Barn Finches, Black Caped Chickadess, many types of Sparrows, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Tufted Titmice. Just about every body is here except the Goldfinches, Hummingbirds, Woodpeckers and Purple Martins.

 

[Runningwolf]

I have seen folks tape paper to the inside of the widows cutting down the reflection.

 

[Rocky]

Dan, paper would block our view, but you may be onto something here. I am going to look for a matte finish, clear plastic and try that. Thanks for the lead.

 

[FL Steve]

I have one as well, they are pretty territorial. I can take the banging on the window but he ought to keep his tongue in when he smacks it, my windows are a mess and now he is drawing blood when he hits them.

 

[Rocky]

Steve, That is interesting. I have never seen a male display this behavior. This happes just about every year and mine have always been females. Yours must be very aggressive.

 

[vcasey]

Call a vet, animal shelter, or bird rescue group and they may be able to help you.

 

[Flem]

Well, Rocky, it's been 3 weeks since your initial posting about the cardinal. Mine is still banging his head against the windows dozens of times a day. I can't believe he still has a beak!!!

 

[Rocky]

Flem, I don't know if they are persistent or slow learners! Mine are still very active and in my case it is always the female Cardinal. They must be Calabrese!