Cardinal (1 Viewer)

I have trouble with a cardinal that keeps pecking the brass plate on my front door. I have tried a fake snake to scare it off, but nothing seems to work. Short of painting the brass plate black, does anyone have any idea how to stop it?

Hi Patti and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

You are probably going to see a lot more of this as the breeding season comes into full force. They are fighting their own reflection because they consider it an adversary.

Can you hang something from the door knob that will block the brass reflective plate for awhile? Even a piece of cardboard with a hole cut out for the knob or handle should help immensely.

Hi, Patt! A warm welcome to you from all of us on staff here at BirdForum!

Afraid this time of year, you might see quite a bit of this behavior from the males of all kinds of species. Your cardinal is pecking at what he thinks is a "rival" in his territory, and with breeding season here or just around the corner, it's unlikely to stop. Birds will do this on windows, car mirrors, anything that reflects the bird's image. If he isn't damaging your house and not bothering you, just be patient and eventually he'll knock it off. Maybe you could put some masking or library mending tape on the brass, which will be easy to remove in a few weeks?

EDIT: Beat me to it, KC! :bounce:

Woodpecker

patt1937 said:

I have trouble with a cardinal that keeps pecking the brass plate on my front door. I have tried a fake snake to scare it off, but nothing seems to work. Short of painting the brass plate black, does anyone have any idea how to stop it?

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Have you tried a artifical woodpecker? We use one on our mail box post to keep birds off of our mailbox and stop their droppings there. We found an artifical woodpecker at a dollar store that works great.... :t: Bluebunting

Hi Patt,a warm welcome to you and good to have you with us.