Preventing bird strikes (3 Viewers)

[Montereyman]

I had missed the article in Scientific American when it was published in May of 2023 but researchers tested the use of decals to prevent bird strikes. The ones placed on the inside of windows provided no decrease in bird strikes. Only by placing the decals on the outside of the window were bird strikes reduced.

I had seen no benefit with bird silhouette decals on my windows and switched to hanging 2x2 inch netting down about 6 inches in front of the glass. Birds that do not see the netting, often when pursued by a raptor, will hit the netting and recover. They are not knocked senseless from striking the glass at speed.

 

[Lerxst]

Decals did not work for us.

Here is my solution:

How to Make Windows Safe for Birds - Physics, Birding and Blindness

We are fortunate: we have the means to own a home. We bought it some fifteen years ago as it checked all the boxes for what our family needed at the time. It also had a feature that we were ambivalent about, something both enchanting and terrible: an east-facing living room wall, two stories high,

legallyblindbirding.net

 

[Montereyman]

Bird netting is more effective as it catches the bird that would otherwise hit the window. It is also much easier to attach using cup hooks at 4-5 foot intervals. The netting despite being made of cotton lasts me more than 5 years before it needs to be replaced which works out to less than $5 a year.

Equally important is that the netting is outside of the window. Depending on the ambient light the amount of image reflection varies greatly which is why anything on the inside of the glass is not effective.

 

[Montereyman]

The 2x2 standard netting has proven to be excellent in preventing birds for getting trapped in the net. I have only had to assist two birds in over a year from the netting. I get hawks that have a strategy of chasing birds into the house and then coming back for the stunned birds laying on the ground. The section of netting I am using only covers a 10 foot area at one window but it is the area directly across from my 3 bird feeders.

I keep the netting in place by attaching cup hooks to the soffit that is 8 feet above my deck.