Ouch! That hurt!
Striated Pardalote
This morning I was sitting in our sun room doing some reading while I had a cuppa. There was a sudden thud on the window near me – a sound we hear a little too frequently.
Window strike.
Every few days we hear a bang on one of our windows. Unfortunately, some of our garden birds see the reflection of the garden in the glass of one of our windows, and mistakenly thinking they can fly straight ahead, come to a sudden, head splitting halt. Most birds suffer mild concussion briefly before flying off, a little sadder but hopefully wiser for the experience. The occasional one does not survive the impact. [Sigh].
This little Striated Pardalote shown in today’s photo was the latest hapless victim. I picked him up and cradled him in my hands for a few minutes, showing off his beautiful colours to some visitors who happened to arrive during my rescue. I placed the bird on an outside table, took several photos and left him to recover. Within minutes it had flown off.
I hope his headache didn’t last long.
Further reading
A sparrow has little accident
A female House Sparrow seconds after an accident
This morning my attention was caught by a large bang on our kitchen window. I immediately went outside with my camera to see what had caused the noise.
On a table on the veranda was a female House Sparrow looking very sad indeed, but still breathing. I only took the one photo and backed off so I wasn’t adding to the bird’s stress. After about ten minutes she flew off, probably with a very sore head.
Window strikes are very common and can cause birds severe damage and often death. In our case, in certain light conditions, birds flying along in our garden think they can see the way clear to keep flying further into the garden. The reflection fools them into thinking the way is clear – until their flight comes to a sudden thudding stop when they hit the glass. Sadly, there is little we can do to prevent this. I am pleased the bird recovered and was able to fly. Some are not so fortunate.
A little later I discovered a dead male House Sparrow lying in the driveway. I’m not sure if his demise occurred at the same time as the female. Perhaps he was chasing her to mate. I guess it’s possible.
Birds and window strikes
Silvereye, Murray Bridge, South Australia
I was working in my home office last week when I heard a sudden bang on the glass about a metre from where I sat. I immediately grabbed the camera and headed out into the garden. There on the garden bed was a little Silvereye, obviously quite stunned but alive. I was able to take a series of close up photos while it recovered. Within a few minutes it had flown off again.
Silvereye, Murray Bridge, South Australia
Window strikes by birds is a constant problem around the world. Home windows, office blocks and anywhere glass is used in buildings create a potential hazard for flying birds. At certain times of the day or light conditions the reflections of the surrounding area – sky, garden, forest – give flying birds the false impression that they can fly straight ahead.
In reality, they fly straight into the glass which is acting like a huge mirror. I have read about various techniques for preventing bird strikes on windows but haven’t yet come across a foolproof way of preventing it.
Luckily for this little fellow, he survived.
Many don’t.
Further reading:
Click on any image to enlarge the photo.
Silvereye, Murray Bridge, South Australia
Silvereye, Murray Bridge, South Australia