Flying Colors is a sponsored column on the hobby of backyard bird feeding written by Michael Zuiker, owner of the Wild Birds Unlimited store at the Lee Harrison Shopping Center. Visit the store at 2437 N. Harrison Street or call 703-241-3988.
So, there is a knock on the door. There is a knock on your window. There is a knock on your metal exhaust vent in your roof. What gives?
This is spring and a bird’s mind turns to love! And if there is one thing a bird does not want — it is competition. So, birds will knock on a hard surface such as a tree or deck post or even wood trim to make its own distinctive territory call.
You have heard it in your neighborhood. The rat a tat tat on the trees or even telephone poles. That is the bird telling other birds of its same species that this his home turf so don’t come calling around.
Most often this is done by the woodpeckers. We have five different types of woodpeckers in our area; Downy, Hairy, Red Bellied, Northern Flicker and Pileated. It is really a fun sound to hear when they are hitting the trees and poles.
But it is not a very nice sound when they are banging away on your siding. Worst than that is when they are banging away on your metal roof exhaust vents! When that happens — the noise can be very loud as it vibrates throughout your house. Especially at 5:30 in the morning. But as loud as it seems, more often than not there is a minimum of damage. When there is damage to a home, the woodpeckers are usually looking for bugs they sense in the siding. Rarely do they try and build a nest cavity in your home.
So then why are they banging on my glass window or sliding glass doors. Because again during mating season, the birds are not keen for competition. When they approach the windows, they see their reflection. Most windows in the last 20 years have a reflective coating that makes the birds reflection so clear it looks real to them. So, the bird will attack the window.
This is very stressful to the birds and usually a large amount of bird waste gets deposited on the window or sill. The birds rarely hurt themselves.
But you want to eliminate the stress for the bird. One thing you could do is close a shade on that window to take away some of the windows reflective quality. You could also break up the reflection with stain glass figures in the window.
There are also window decals which when applied to the window break up the reflection. You can also put soap suds on the outside of the window, black paper or black hawks. A last resort would be a small chime hung outside, most birds try to avoid unusual movement and or sound.
Spring is a special time with the birth of wild birds. Setting up a few bird houses will give you a unique opportunity to witness the whole process from egg laying to hatching to the fledging of the baby chicks. (more…)
