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Kamikaze wood pigeons and my windows

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Xenophon PCDGS

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On one side elevation of our very rural property there is a large mature wooded area and for the last two years, on the first floor level, one very large double-glazed picture window is regularly struck by wood-pigeons flying into it, which leaves a very clear outline on the window of the bird, with both wings fully extended and the head turned sideways. Fortunately, the glass in the doubled glazed window is very strong and never becomes damaged, which is more than can be said for the birds in question.

I wonder if any other website members suffer from similar occurrences and can offer any explanation for this avian behaviour.
 
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ilkestonian

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They probably see a reflection of sky and trees etc in the glass and think they are flying towards another wood.

They're not the brightest of creatures :D
 

DaleCooper

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I've had the imprint of a collared dove on the patio door and I'm pretty sure it occurred when it was ambushed by a sparrow hawk. I heard a bang and when I looked out there was the sparrow hawk plucking the dove in preparation for the oven or however hawks cook them. I sometimes get newly fledged birds flying into the window at this time of year. It's a fairly common occurrence, I believe you can even buy hawk shaped stickers to put on the window to deter them.
 

backontrack

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We have one of these!

ea-kestrel.jpg


You did say that they aren't the brightest... :lol:



_
 
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GrimsbyPacer

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The simple solution is to add a curtain rail outside and add some shower curtains to it, no see-through or reflective surface no problem.
 

Bevan Price

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You are lucky - the 2nd or 3rd time it happened to me, a large toughened glass window was partly shattered. Fortunately, it was covered by the house insurance. I did not see it happen, but a neighbour told me two pigeons had been "scuffling" prior to the incident. Unfortunately, after each collision, the pigeon seems to have survived, although a few weeks later, one pigeon seems to have failed to spot a sparrowhawk (or kestrel)....

I presume the impact of the beak tip caused the shattering - almost any sharply pointed item can break toughened glass if it is moving quickly enough.
 

Class172

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If I recall, I think I've seen some garden centres that sell small translucent stickers that can be applied to the window. Supposedly they reflect the near UV light that pigeons can see (but we can't) so they see there is a physical barrier and avoid it. I don't have any so can comment on their effectiveness, but they sound as if they should work.
 

Phil.

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I've just had a 5' fence erected down one side of the bungalow. It's about seven feet from one side. I watched a feral pigeon land on the fence yesterday evening. After about three minutes it took off and flew straight into the window. It flew off so I suppose apart from an avian headache it was alright.
 

Harbornite

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On one side elevation of our very rural property there is a large mature wooded area and for the last two years, on the first floor level, one very large double-glazed picture window is regularly struck by wood-pigeons flying into it, which leaves a very clear outline on the window of the bird, with both wings fully extended and the head turned sideways. Fortunately, the glass in the doubled glazed window is very strong and never becomes damaged, which is more than can be said for the birds in question.

I wonder if any other website members suffer from similar occurrences and can offer any explanation for this avian behaviour.

As mentioned above, they don't understand the concept of reflections. You can buy stickers shaped like the outlines of Falcons to dissuade the pigeons from flying towards them.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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As mentioned above, they don't understand the concept of reflections. You can buy stickers shaped like the outlines of Falcons to dissuade the pigeons from flying towards them.

Would the sticker would have to be on the outside, rather on the inside of the double glazed window, as optics are not the strongest of my points and I wonder if an external sticker reflection would be better seen by the bird as an internally fitted one.
 
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Clip

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Buy a big static owl to put on the roof to dissuade them
 

Bevan Price

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Would the sticker would have to be on the outside, rather on the inside of the double glazed window, as optics are not the strongest of my points and I wonder if an external sticker reflection would be better seen by the bird as an internally fitted one.

Remember that wherever you put it - dependent on the material type / quality, it may fade in a year or two, due to the action of sunlight on many coloured materials. Inside the window would protect it from the weather, but as a test, get someone to hold it inside the window, and see if it is clearly visible from outside.
 

Class172

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Would the sticker would have to be on the outside, rather on the inside of the double glazed window, as optics are not the strongest of my points and I wonder if an external sticker reflection would be better seen by the bird as an internally fitted one.

Ideally one would place the sticker on the outside, since at certain angles a sticker on the inside would appear invisible; the pigeon would simply see a reflection. It can depend on the lighting conditions, but this effect is more pronounced at larger angles (to the normal of the mirror).
 
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Busaholic

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A few years ago, a street in Penzance where cars parked for long periods was subject to attacks by seagulls on certain of those cars, generally the well-polished ones, which led to speculation that said seagulls were seeing their reflections and then attacking these predators!

My parrot is escorted into the bathroom and deposited on the wash-basin every evening, for a very mundane reason, and soon established that the magnificent creature he saw each time in the mirror was not a rival for his owners' affections, although it took a while longer before he stopped calling 'hello' to it!
 

deltic1989

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To the rear of our house we have a sizable garden flanked by bushes and a well established and very tall tree. We have now discovered that it's a bad idea to leave our bedroom window open when the room is empty as last week a large Pigeon decided that it was cold out and took up residence on top of our wardrobe. A fact that I was alerted to by a blood curdling scream from Mrs D. The Said bird then resisted all efforts to return it to its natural habitat until Charlie our Jack Russel came to investigate the commotion. At which point the Pigeon headbutted the window 4 times in it efforts to escape with Charlie snapping at it's heels. An altogether very amusing experience.
 

Busaholic

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Buy a big static owl to put on the roof to dissuade them

The Wharfside Shopping Centre in Penzance has one of these - the seagulls take it in turn to go and sit next to it to keep it company.:lol:
 

DaveNewcastle

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They probably see a reflection of sky and trees etc in the glass and think they are flying towards another wood.

They're not the brightest of creatures :D
That is what I have been thinking, but wanted to see what other website members said.
I say the same.
I had pigeons fly into west facing windows of a property which looked out onto open land, and leaving the same full-body-print on the glass. The image would remain clearly visible for weeks. I was told that the oils in the feathers help to fix the imprint against any removal by rainwater.
Buy a big static owl to put on the roof to dissuade them
(I think we've mentioned this previously, but . . . . ) There were two life sized static owls on the concorse of Kings Cross station to deter pigeons. The pigeons would swoop low above the heads of queueing passengers despite the deterrent.

When the concourse was re-built a few years ago, the dummy owls were removed.

And now there's no pigeons.
 

ainsworth74

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Isn't there a picture somewhere of a pigeon sitting on one of those owls?
 

61653 HTAFC

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We have one of these!

ea-kestrel.jpg


You did say that they aren't the brightest... :lol:



_

My parents have recently acquired something similar (though in perched position rather than mid-flight) to discourage birds from perching on the telephone cables and crapping all over my mother's car. It seems to work...
 
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