In Search of a Solution for Bird Window Collisions

One of the many things I love about my native England is the house names.  Proud owners of anything from the most humble cottage to the grandest estate give their homes a name. The name may be the family name, as in "Hartford Manor", or it may be inspired by the environs of the house, as in "Meadow View Lodge" or "Lakeside Cottage."

A while back, Eric and I, just for fun, were trying to come up with a name of our house.  We thought of "Pine Villa" and "Squirrel's Rest", but eventually, we lost the pine tree, and the wooded lots either side of our house were built on, so those names no longer fit.

One recurring name that kept coming up was "Dove's Demise".  Not exactly something one would want on a slate by the front door, but in our case over the years it would be considered an appropriate name.

As much as I like to garden for wildlife, and keep the feeders and birdbaths filled, an alarming number of birds, mostly Mourning or White Winged doves, have crashed into the windows across the back of our house and died.

This photo gives you  gives you a good idea why.  I was standing by the bird bath and bird feeder when I took it, and you can see that the blue sky is reflected in the windows.

What often happens is that a truck or something noisy will come along the road behind our wall and startle the birds, who will take flight and scatter en masse. They don't perceive the glass, but just see the sky reflected and think they can fly through.  Inside the house we hear a loud *thunk* and look out to see a bird lying dead on the patio with a broken neck.

We're running out of places to bury them. :-(

We have tried various stickers on the windows with not much success, so I started searching for a better solution.

That's when I found The Bird Screen Company. 

The screens aren't expensive and they are easy to install - I was able to install them myself last weekend using the suction cup mount option that was included. 

 As you can see, they are made of black vinyl screen and hang several inches from the window and are secured top and bottom to give tension.  From inside the house, they do not block the view and should a bird happen to hit the screen, it softens the impact, allowing the bird to fly away unharmed.

You can read the history of how they were developed here.

So far, I have installed them on the three living room windows, and the patio door, which were the windows that have been involved in the most bird collisions. (Haven't done the dining room yet - the windows on the right)

I'm hopeful that the birds in our garden will be safer and we no longer have to call our house "Dove's Demise".

If you've ever thought about giving your house a name, or even if you haven't, you might enjoy this House Naming Guide.


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Butterflies and the Bird Buffet

I've been trying all week to catch a photo of one of the Monarchs that have been floating and flitting around the garden all week. I was finally able to snap a photo when one of them alit on the tropical milkweed in the island bed and was still for a moment.

One appeared to be laying eggs last weekend, but I can't see any eggs and haven't spotted any caterpillars, so my assumption may have been wrong.  I suppose time will tell.

It was marginally cooler today (only 88 degrees), so I put on a headband and went out to pull weeds.  Then, on a trip to the store to pick up bird seed, I was lured into the garden center and came out with a small flat of purple Angelonias, to help offset all the orange I have going on in the back yard.
But after sweating up a storm for half an hour or so, I retreated to the shade of the patio to sip ice tea and read a gardening magazine.  

That's when the show really started.  

First, along came this red-winged blackbird.  This is the first one I have seen this year.  He didn't stick around long, probably because I hadn't put any birdseed along the wall like I usually do.

Then I got quite excited when I saw this guy.  It's a young red-bellied woodpecker, too young to have a red cap on his head like his dad, although one of the photos below you can see it's getting a little rosy.

I had seen him during the week actually being fed by the male that visits our garden.  I watched closely to see if there would be a repeat performance.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, "dad" showed up. 

 Finally, I couldn't believe it when I realized the whole family was there on the wall - mum, dad and youngster!  I was thrilled to be able to capture this photo for the family album.  A first for me :-)

Then I realized I was being a bad hostess and that I really should put some seed out along the wall and fill the feeders.

Once I had done that, the white-winged doves that had been eyeing the scene from the power lines across the road came swooping down.

This mockingbird was quite happy enough to share as well.  He even tried some acrobatics to get to the suet, but the male woodpecker was the most skilled at that, happily hanging almost upside down to get to the suet/peanut mixture.

All in all, a lovely day in the garden.  I wish they could all be like this :-)


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.