That spring week in 2019 when I lost count of bird strikes

I live in a house with big picture windows facing a wooded lot, and for a while I thought I was doing okay with the decals I put up. Then came the second week of May in 2019. It was unusually warm and the warblers were moving through hard. I found three birds on the ground that Monday alone, a yellow-rumped warbler, a white-throated sparrow, and a little brown creeper. Tuesday was worse with a thrush hitting hard enough to crack the glass. I called my local bird rehab in Raleigh and they said to cover the whole lower half of the window with temporary netting. I did that on Wednesday and it felt ugly but I didn't find another bird the rest of the week. Has anyone else had a sudden bad stretch like that where you felt like nothing was working?

2 comments

2 Comments

grace_fox31mo ago

Oh man, that sounds brutal. I once had a bad week where I mistook my own reflection for a threat and full-on ran into the sliding glass door myself. At least the birds probably felt a little less alone watching me stumble around with a headache and wounded pride.

rayc381mo ago

Man, that thrush cracking the glass is next level scary. Did you ever figure out if the netting helped long term or did you end up trying something else after that week? I ask because I've heard mixed things about netting staying effective once birds get used to it being there. Curious if you noticed them still testing the windows after a few months.