There is nothing worse than the sound of a bird hitting your window and then finding the poor thing gasping on the ground — or worse, not gasping.
There are many internet suggestions on how to stop bird strikes. I’ve tried them all and found only two made a difference for me:
1) If you have feeders, put them close to the window – 3 to 5 feet away
2) Use the vertical line technique that I’ll explain below.
Why Do Birds Hit Windows?
Birds hit windows, because they don’t know about windows. Walk outside and look at your house like a bird would see it.
Ignore those white lines for a minute, do you see a dining room or a tree when you look at the big plate glass window?
Birds, who don’t know about glass, think they can just fly over to that tree and then *WHAM* they learn about glass…
According the American Bird Conservancy, a BILLION birds die each year from hitting windows. That’s pretty sad, but many deaths can be prevented with just a little bit of effort.
An Easy And Effective Way To Prevent Birds From Flying Into Your Window
Ok, now look at those white vertical lines. To a bird, that just might be spider webs, or vines, or something else they don’t want to fly through. Well we don’t know what birds are thinking, but those lines really work!
Previous to those stripes, I saw/heard bird strikes regularly. I’d always rush out to rescue the little creature by protecting them while they recovered. Sadly not all made it. After drawing on the lines, there were no more strikes. I’m not exaggerating, those lines instantly cured the problem.
Well there was one time I noticed that two birds were having an air tussle and they brushed against the window. But that was it.
Use A White Glass Pen To Draw On The Stripes
Glass pens come in several types. Some are water soluble, some are permanent and require a razor to remove. You can choose whatever you think would work best for you and depends if you want to draw them on the inside or outside of the glass. I chose this water soluble one because it’s non toxic and I was working on the inside.
Once it arrived, I simply used a 2×4 as a straight edge and proceeded to draw lines from left to right. It took less than 5 minutes.
Won't Those Stripes Block My View?
No. You’ll appreciate your work for a day or so, but then they just become invisible to you. It’s funny how our brain works because we don’t see our noses either.
After they’ve become invisible to you, someone will stop by and ask you about them. It’s a fantastic opportunity to talk about birds and bird strikes because they probably have the same problems.
It was actually hard to get a picture of the lines from the inside. But waiting for cloudy day and with all the lights off, you can see what they look like from a human’s perspective. I honestly don’t notice them any more. But when I do, they make me happy because I never have to run outside to find the little bird who just flew full speed into an invisible barrier.
If you try this technique, I’d love to hear how it worked for you.
A fellow bird lover, I am grateful to learn this easy technique. I, too, have too many times heard that sickening thwack against my window and my heart instantly sinks. Whether injured or expired, my heart hurts when this occurs. You can bet I will be drawing a grid on my panes to prevent future suffering. Thank you for this well-written and concise article, Ann! 💗🐦🦋 Namaste
I’m going to try this. Right now I’m using reflective stickers, but this would look better and be less distracting from the inside!