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Bluebird pecking on windows

17 years ago

We have a birdhouse on our front porch that has been used for several years by the same pair of bluebirds (I think it's the same pair). The babies just hatched and ever since, the male has been pecking at our windows. I thought initially that he selected the first set because for once they were clean! and they are closest to the nest. However, when I pulled all the blinds he moved on to the next window which has not been cleaned recently, so that theory has been shot down. I covered that window and he moved on to the next. After we went through this with all the windows in the front of the house, he immediately went to the back of the house and started! Does anyone have any idea why he is doing this? Could this be a new pair of birds? If it is the same pair as in years past, he has never acted like this. Does anyone have any suggestions how to make him stop? He's not running into the windows but he's pecking on them. I'm really afraid he is going to drive himself crazy doing this.

Thanks in advance for all your advice. This is my first time on this forum. I searched the web to find experts in bird behavior and this seems to be a great source of information!

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Comments (3)

bluebars
17 years ago
Eventually they stop, but they can really drive us crazy, and make a mess of our windows. It is territorial behavior. They think their reflection is a competitor. There are good solutions here: http://www.sialis.org/windowstrikes.htm
BlueBars
carol50_2009
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you for your response. The article is very interesting,especially the part about the birds alerting people to problems around the nest. That was actually my first thought when he started doing this because the behavior is so out of the ordinary for him. I looked around the bushes for snakes, but I will inspect the birdhouse better when I get home.
I think it is very interesting that he went all the way around to the back of the house once I covered up the front windows.
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HU-8733933106036
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I have two bluebirds in my backyard. They are feeding the little one in the birdhouse. They have been here for two week. One of them has just begun tapping on my doors and windows. Then flying to the birdbath, then flying to the feeder and back and forth. The birdbath was empty and so was the feeder. Now both are full and he is still tapping on my windows. He comes to a window, then to the birdhouse, and back and forth. Is he trying to communicate something? Also, last summer, there was a bird that tapped on my front door in the night, I could see him through the partial glass. He would not see his reflection at night. What could be the reason for that behavior? Barby

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