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Two dead indigo buntings

12 years ago

I came home today and found two male indigo buntings dead by my large picture window. I guess they were being territorial and not watching and they crashed into the window. It made me sick. I have had a sporadic bird thru the years but never two before. What can I do to prevent this again?

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Comments (6)

bandjzmom
12 years ago
Oh gosh flowerchild, that is a really sad finding. I feel sure that you are correct. They must have crashed right into the window. My sister has a female Bluebird who is attacking her windows, and she found a website that sells really nice window decals to prevent this kind of thing from happening. The ones she bought were quite pretty. Here is the site if you want to check it out. I am sure that lots of businesses sell this type of thing. You can Google for more of them. That's what I would do. I would put up some decals to try to alert them so that you decrease the chances of having this happen again.~~Angie

Here is a link that might be useful: Window Decals
bandjzmom
12 years ago
flowerchild,
It was specifically the Cardinal Alert strips that my sister purchased. She bought several of them because her window is large. Anyway, they looked really nice on the window. Any of the decals would work though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cardinal Alert Strips
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yes, we have a birder's paradise here. Right now it is positively buzzing, with new neotropical arriving daily. Head the first whip-poor-will yesterday, and THINK I heard a parula this afternoon. Heard the oriole-like whistle of a rose-breasted grosbeak yesterday and then today, heard it again, close to the house this time, and sure enough there he was. Will have to be keeping an eye out for the blue grosbeaks and the evenings, although they aren't always dependable like the RBGs. Yes, the buntings seem to have a love for the taller grasses and thicker stuff here. A lot of times a male will sit on the power line and just go nuts with song, even when it gets hot. Nests fascinate me and annoy me at the same time because I have been too lazy to study the differences and learn to tell what bird made them. I found a nest of blue-grey gnatcatchers a few years back, and I could stand under the nest and watch the yougsters at lunch time, but it was at least 20 feet off the ground and I could never get a good look at how it was made. Think it might have had lichens on it, much like a hummer's nest. Plenty of birds, alright. In fact, come on over and stay a while....as long as you take a few thousand of our OTHER birds back when you leave. I'll give you a hint: they make a distinct whining call, are extremely gregarious, and have a specially adapted bill well suited for their liquid diet.
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lisa11310
12 years ago
Good Lord Angie, you are just so full of good info! I want some of these too! LOL
bandjzmom
12 years ago
Well thanks Lisa dear. Here is a pic of my sister's actual window with the Cardinal Alert Strips on it. She did put a 3rd strip up on the bare portion. Pretty, hey? Looks like a church window!
flowerchild59
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the info and the links. I ordered some.
bandjzmom
12 years ago
You are welcome flowerchild. This stuff worked well for my sister. The idea is to prevent window strikes and also to discourage territorial birds who want to repeatedly attack their own reflections. :o)

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