This is the view from my window these days:
I had to resort to putting painter’s tape across the glass after the third goldfinch fatally smacked into it. I’ve never had such a horrible time with bird strikes before. Usually my bird-strike decals do the trick, but not this year.
One morning—pre-tape—I was standing in the window looking through binoculars when a bigger bird crashed into the window. I jumped about 10 feet in the air and then peered down to see a thrush belly-up on the ground. I thought it would be dead, but it was breathing heavily. I was afraid it might die and I really didn’t want to stand around and watch so I walked away from the window and did other things for about a half-hour.
When I came back the bird was sitting upright looking around. I waited another 15 minutes or so and then went out with my camera to snap a few shots from a distance because I wanted to identify it. Thrushes can be tricky to identify, and because it was an early-morning, overcast day the light wasn’t the best. My bird turned out to be a Swainson’s Thrush. I talked to it a little bit and it blinked a few times and flew off. I was so relieved that it had survived. I’ve heard Swainson’s Thrushes singing in my neighborhood before, but I’d never actually spotted one.
Some changes may be causing the rash of bird strikes. I’ve never had 130+ goldfinches in my yard at one time before. And there used to be an ash tree nearby for birds to take cover in when startled, but that got taken down last fall. I think the absence of that tree may have also changed the reflection that the birds see in my bay window. Whatever the reasons for the strikes, I had to put an end to them as quickly as possible. Thankfully since putting up the tape two weeks ago I haven’t had a single incident.
I’m still hoping more of my visiting goldfinches will head south before winter because I just can’t keep up with their voracious appetites. So far they don’t seem to be in any hurry to leave.