This one's for the birds, literally

Any of us who feed birds have heard the alarming thump of a larger bird hitting a window. Most often they land below the window, sit for a while until their heads clear and then fly away. Once in a while one dies, and then some might need rescue and rehabilitation. I remember a chickadee at the East Pole that flew in through the open doorway and then crashed into the picture window thinking it was a way out. I managed to get that little fellow onto a snowshoe so I could move him around. I left the door open and moved him closer to it and facing out, not wanting to put him outside because as small as they are if they don't keep moving they will get hypothermic quickly.

In November 2013 a Pine grosbeak hit the window here and hurt itself badly. I ended up sending it to Bird TLC in Anchorage.

Birds don't see the glass; all they see is a continuation of the habitat, particularly if it reflects trees and bushes behind them. They probably even see their own reflections as another bird rather than a solid object. I have tried several methods to prevent this: silhouettes of raptors on the windows, wind chimes, wind socks. One person suggested a netting over the window which they would hit first and bounce off. Another method is to keep the feeders within five feet of the windows so the birds can't get going fast enough to hurt themselves. Mine are within eight feet, but the crashes still occur.

I am probably the last person on earth to learn about these, but not too long ago I came upon these reflective deterrents. According to the literature, birds can see the UV light spectrum as well as they see the visible spectrum. The surface of the window mountings in the picture reflect UV light, making them more visible to birds. In addition the pattern in them is called dichroic glass which creates a color shifting, changing appearance visible from different angles and reflected in many directions. I ordered some but hadn't put them up yet.

The other day driving back from the East Pole I stopped at a couple of friends' house for a visit and noticed they had the reflectors in their windows. They said they had been suggested by another friend and they worked well. My friends had seen birds pull up before hitting the window, only to move over and hit the one next to it that didn't have the films.

That was enough for me. In this massive physical life reformation I am going through, today I put them in the window and we shall see how they work. Watch this space.

I gave her the bird, literally: Rescuing a Pine grosbeak

Artscape, where I bought mine; I am sure there must be other vendors

Anchorage Bird Treatment and Learning Center