“HELP PLEASE I have this yellow finch throwing himself at my window trying to gain access I think. This has been happening for two days, he regains strength overnite and is back this morning. What can I do to stop him. I do not want him to get hurt. Thanks Tina”
After a few emails back and forth with Tina, and a photo she sent me, the bumping bird is definately a male yellow finch.
“Tina:
Put up a curtain. What a nutty bird! Depending on your location it may be mating season. He sees his reflection and he’s likely trying to start a fight to fend off ‘that other yellow finch’ he sees in the reflection of your glass.
Unless you’ve got pet finches inside…and he’s trying to get at them?
If you still can’t shake him off and help him to move on, you might want to call the local animal control unit (usually run by a municipality). They’ll come and relocate him.”
As it turns out Tina has no birds in the house, and has tried drawing the curtain but the yellow finch (an American Goldfinch) keeps flinging himself at the window. It’s a large picture window with a big pine tree butting right up to it.
————
Yes, you’ve got an American Goldfinch there. He’s performing a territorial defense on your window. He thinks your window is another male, and your house has been marked as his territory (in his mind at least) so he’s fighting off the other bird. He won’t stop until early Fall or until he kills himself by bumping into your window.
That is quite a large window (otherwise I’d suggest covering it from the outside until he gets a grip on himself). At some point your window is highly reflective - almost mirror like on his side - likely at a certain point in the day with the sun’s reflections. Have you noticed him doing this at any particular time? Say, for instance that he does this from 3-5 pm you could hang a sheet on the outside of the window for just those few hours every day. As the sun changes position due to the season, this time may change and/or diminish altogether.
I wish I had a quick fix suggestion for you. Some people put stickers on their windows, attach those ugly plastic owls to their windowsills to scare off the wild birds, etc. but these don’t always work. The mirror like reflection and the need to fend for their territory is too great.
Animal control may still come and try to catch him (or give you tips on how to catch him if he knocks himself out - be very careful here) so he can be relocated by the experts. However, chances are pretty good he’ll find his way back, or another will come and do the same thing.
If your property is large, you could maybe distract him and his mate if he has one (they’re monogamous and in the breeding season now), by putting out a wild bird feeder with black sunflower seeds or thistle, far away from the window. I’m thinking that if he has a mate she’s probably nested in that tree right by the window. The eggs incubate for about 10 days, the young in the nest for another 10-17 days, and they may have 2 broods a season.
Hoping some of this information assists you with a solution!
Veronica
sounds like the bird is either trying to mate with himself or kill himself....
My guess is it is a Gold Finch, assuming it is all yellow and has black wings and wing bars. Anyway, it is probably a male since it is bright yellow in color (females are a drab color scheme compared to the males), and it is probably attacking his reflection in the window since any male in his area would be direct competition towards him having a chance to mate with a female Gold Finch. Cardinals express this behavior every year during breeding season, and come back to the same house each year and peck on the same windows each year. Interesting trate that birds do this.
The only fix is a 12 guage or a well sighted in Air Rifle depending on how close your neighbors are.
Had the EXACT same problem 2 months ago but with a robin. The lil fvcker kept banging itself against my 2nd floor mbr french doors every freakin morning at around 5:30AM.......EVERYFREAKINDAY for about a week!!!!
I finally had enough and threw a tarp up over the door and transom window above it and the fvcker hasnt been back since....altho I still see him/her around my yard but it hasnt discovered any other windows worthy to fly into I guess.
Aside from waking me up everyday the lil bastid made a mess of my balcony with all the crap that apparently squirts out of it on each bump.
I heard banging and scratching at my front door early one sprinig morning...sounded like someone was trying to break in...
Grabbed the gun and tiptoed downstairs...opened the door to find a red fox pawing at the shiny brass kickplate! He must have seen his reflection and thought it was a rival in his territory...
Luckily, he ran away from the house rather than into the living room! Fox piss is the worst smell in the world!
Coyotes roam my street as if they own it and wild hogs (of the porcine kind...) sometimes rip into my landscaping at night...I've shot a few of them but there are always more out there that need killin'...
Right now there is a mountain lion roaming the neighborhood...now I always look out the window before opening the door to let the dog out...and I'll have too take the shotgun into the yard with me when I do some tree trimming later today...
Welcome to the Texas Hill Country...
We just let the little birdies do as they please as they don't bother a thing and keep the area around our house free of insects...
__________________
The Road to Hell is paved...
and slightly banked!
Last edited by Motophoria; 07-05-2007 at 04:19 PM.
OT finch bird
Fox piss is the worst smell in the world!
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