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Old 05-18-2016, 07:35 AM
 
1,197 posts, read 1,620,154 times
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Might be a mockingbird, they are highly territorial at their breeding sites. From your description of the bird I wouldn't rule out a gray catbird either. LauraC's post nailed the why.
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Old 05-19-2016, 06:56 AM
 
Location: US
351 posts, read 283,450 times
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Windows kill more birds than anything else, sometimes just a simple decal could prevent them from flying into your window. Here are some other preventive measures you could use:
15 products that prevent window strikes - BirdWatching
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Old 01-19-2019, 10:13 AM
 
1 posts, read 369 times
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For months I've had a female cardinal coming to sit on a branch about 1 foot away from my window. She jumps from the branch and bangs into the window. Back and forth, back and forth for about 4-5 hits each visit. It's obvious she thinks the reflection is more branches she can land on, but the funny thing is she comes at least 5 times a day to try it again in EXACTLY the same spot! I don't think she is hurting herself because she is only jumping from a foot away, but she is completely OBSESSED with it! Her mate will go to one of the feeders nearby and watch her while he eats. They are a really cute couple but I kinda wish he would have a little talk with her about physics. I'm sure she often tells him, "not tonight - I have a headache".
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Old 01-19-2019, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Canada
14,723 posts, read 14,885,577 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roxxco View Post
For months I've had a female cardinal coming to sit on a branch about 1 foot away from my window. She jumps from the branch and bangs into the window. Back and forth, back and forth for about 4-5 hits each visit. It's obvious she thinks the reflection is more branches she can land on, but the funny thing is she comes at least 5 times a day to try it again in EXACTLY the same spot! I don't think she is hurting herself because she is only jumping from a foot away, but she is completely OBSESSED with it! Her mate will go to one of the feeders nearby and watch her while he eats. They are a really cute couple but I kinda wish he would have a little talk with her about physics. I'm sure she often tells him, "not tonight - I have a headache".
She is seeing her own reflection in the window and is attacking her reflection because she thinks it's an intruder invading her territory. It's a very common behaviour that nearly all birds and many other animals will do when they see their own reflections.

Yes, she can hurt herself badly if she does it a lot. You can stop her from attacking her reflection and hurting herself by pasting a black paper silhouette of a hawk or other bird of prey in flight onto the inside of the window right where she attacks the window. Then she will stay away from the window.

Like these: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...ight&FORM=IGRE

.
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Old 01-19-2019, 07:11 PM
 
3,211 posts, read 2,961,770 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roxxco View Post
For months I've had a female cardinal coming to sit on a branch about 1 foot away from my window. She jumps from the branch and bangs into the window. Back and forth, back and forth for about 4-5 hits each visit. It's obvious she thinks the reflection is more branches she can land on, but the funny thing is she comes at least 5 times a day to try it again in EXACTLY the same spot! I don't think she is hurting herself because she is only jumping from a foot away, but she is completely OBSESSED with it! Her mate will go to one of the feeders nearby and watch her while he eats. They are a really cute couple but I kinda wish he would have a little talk with her about physics. I'm sure she often tells him, "not tonight - I have a headache".

Put something on the window so the bird can't see her reflection.
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Old 01-20-2019, 07:08 AM
 
Location: NW Nevada
18,151 posts, read 15,576,374 times
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Just out of curiosity do you have any berry bushes? Birds that eat certain berries at certain times can get intoxicated and act all goofy. I've seen it and it's pretty wild.
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Old 01-20-2019, 07:48 AM
 
Location: Maryland
2,269 posts, read 1,626,119 times
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It’s interesting the behavior one sees in animals sometimes. (BTW, agree with others about OP, that it is competitive mating behavior or territorial activity).

I had an upstairs office with a small window overlooking part of the roof below. One day I kept hearing a repeated, thump, scuffle, scuffle....pause, then thump, scuffle, scuffle. I looked out and saw 4 Blue Jays. They were taking turns doing this.....one would jump from the nearby branch to the edge of the gutter (thump) then scuttle down the inside of the gutter about a foot or two (scuffle, scuffle) and then fly to aforementioned branch to join the line waiting their turn. I stood and watched them doing this for a couple minutes. It was apparently just some sort of amusing activity for them. It was so weird the way they just lined up on the branch, each taking their turn.
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Old 01-20-2019, 12:50 PM
 
Location: Madison, Alabama
12,790 posts, read 9,298,764 times
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We have half-circle window high up in our master bathroom. At first, we had nothing on the window, but a male cardinal kept flying and banging into it. I was afraid he was either going to kill himself or break the window. My wife got some sort of adhesive lacy thing to put on the window, and he never did it again. Presumably he was seeing his reflection and attacking.

Also, at one time I had problems with birds crapping all over my outside mirrors on my truck. They were also doing the territorial thing, so I rigged up some covers to go over the mirrors while the truck was parked and it cured the problem. Putting the covers on and off was a pain, but easier than cleaning up the mess without them on.
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Old 01-20-2019, 01:58 PM
 
13,754 posts, read 13,257,395 times
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Have you thought about opening the window and letting it inside? That would probably put an end to your problem.
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