Garden Decor Tips That'll Help Prevent Birds From Flying Into Windows

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That telltale thump. The feeling of dread as you venture outside to look beneath your window for the latest little victim. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that one billion birds die each year from hitting windows in the United States. While bird strikes on windows are an unfortunately common occurrence, you can still attract songbirds to your garden without risking their lives. Simple solutions like adding a window film, decals, art, or hanging items can be effective in reducing collisions, and can also add interest to your garden decor.

The reasons why birds fly into glass stems from their inability to distinguish reflection from reality. To their eyes, your window pane may look like a lush landscape of cover and food or the wide open blue sky. Your goal is to interrupt the reflection they see. Decorative vinyl window films, such as the Coavas Stained Glass Window Film, will add visual interest to your windows while still allowing you to enjoy your garden views. Films with hatched or dot patterns do a good job dissuading birds. Ultraviolet decals, like Leaf Medley Anti-Collision Decal by WindowAlert, come in a variety of patterns and can be a cute way to connect your garden and your home, but be sure to place them close together (about two to four inches apart) to be effective at preventing bird strikes. And make sure to place the film or stickers on the outside of the window to work against reflection. If your window is accessible enough, get the kids involved and draw seasonal scenes with washable glass markers. Cover as much of the outside window surface as you can with your art. 

Another way to interrupt glass reflections is by hanging things like vertical lengths of paracord on the outside of your window, or other items like strings, wind chimes or mobiles. Hanging items should be placed no more than 4 inches apart to be effective, although smaller birds can get through them even at that spacing. Speaking of hanging things, be careful where you put that bird feeder. Along with reconsidering using a window feeder, think about how far away you are hanging your food stations. By placing a feeder within 2 or 3 feet of a window, you limit the amount of speed a bird can build flying away from the perch, reducing the likelihood of fatal collision. Otherwise, keep feeders and other attractants like bird baths (which you should think twice about having, anyway) farther out in the garden, at least 30 feet, to avoid inviting a bird strike. 

At night, migrating birds will fly into lit-up windows, because they are attracted to lights. Turning off outside lights and closing those blinds when the sun goes down will also help keep birds away from your windows. More solutions for reducing bird strikes can be found at the Bird Collision Prevention Alliance, which is a coalition of over 100 nonprofits and government agencies working on this issue.