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Q: A bird is hitting itself repeatedly against my window. Is it crazy?


A: No, it's not crazy, and it's not trying to get into your house. Your bird is attacking its reflection, which it perceives to be an intruder on its territory. Such behavior is usually confined to a short period of time in early spring, when territorial aggression is at its peak. It is almost always male birds because males defend territories to attract mates. Males that perceive their own images tend to return time after time to look for the intruder, often in the early morning, just when the noise on your window is particularly annoying. Even masking the window being attacked often fails to stop this annoying behavior because the resident will check out the area where he keeps seeing this "intruder" only to find his reflection in another nearby window! Birds attacking their own image typically fly at the window repeatedly from a short distance, not really injuring themselves but producing a lot of noise and wasting a lot of energy (this is in contrast to birds that fly into your window because they are confused by the reflected landscape or are being chased by a predator).

The only effective strategy in dealing with this behavior is to eliminate the reflection (see next question). Otherwise, you can ignore the behavior, preferably with a gin and tonic in hand, with the knowledge that it is specific to a very short time of year, and will end soon. We promise.