bird-window-accident.jpgI remember when growing up in my parents home when I was younger. My parents built on an extension to their kitchen, which pushed back the kitchen several feet into the backyard. Soon after the extension was done, the same bird (at least I was told then that it was the same bird) kept on flying into that window, over and over again. I saw it a few times actually fly into the window. Often, one would hear a big bang, and look at the window and find nothing - but sometimes I saw it happen.

The same thing happens in my office building. For some reason, frequently enough, a bird flies directly into the window of my office. I am on the 3rd floor, pretty much in the middle of the office building. The building has been here for about 10 years, so I doubt it is one of those flight pattern things. Maybe it is just dark when I get here.

Did you know that windows are one of the leading causes of bird death? The picture above is from a bird that is recovering from a window accident, for real, click on it and it will show you a caption.

It's estimated that more than 90 million birds are killed each year as a result of hitting windows. Stopping the collisions is a matter of changing the birds' perception of what they see in the window.

So why do birds fly into windows, like my office building's windows? Good question, the answer is at WildBirds.com.

Tall buildings that relied heavily on large sheets of glass surface were especially hazardous. Birds see a reflection of the outdoors in the window and do not realize they are flying into a solid object. The end result is a stunned bird or a bird with a broken neck. During the spring, birds will appear to attack windows. They are really defending their territory from the "other" bird they see reflected in the window. They lunge at the "other bird" and peck it, trying to drive it away.

Preventing this is possible. eHow.com has an article on How to Prevent Birds From Flying Into Windows.

I never thought in a million years I would write about birds flying into my window, go figure.