birds flying into windows

[My Angel Pie]

my father in law has very large windows in his bungalow, he's on a corner plot and on 2 sides of the property birds keep flying into the windows and killing themselves (very sad last week there was a pair of gold finches and a chaffinch in one day alone!) i want to put something onto the window or guttering above that would distract them (maybe a few of the those suckers things designed for bathroom 'stick on shelves' with strands of metalic ribbon attached and maybe stuck onto the window to catch the breeze??) any suggestions would be appreciated. poor things -BTW this happens with his windows opened or closed, they just fly at the property!

[cruella]

Hi,
I witnessed the same thing at the weekend at work. We have large patio doors in our work and a baby blackbird flew into the glass and stunned itself. I though it's Mum would come looking for it as I did not see it happen but when I arrived at work on Sunday, it was dead and had been ripped apart. It broke my heart having to clean the mess up. We have an overhang above the patio doors but nothing seems to prevent them flying into the glass.
If you come up with a solution, I would be glad to hear from you.

[quizbabe]

You could try those bird stickers. They are like blackbirds in flight and look like they are flying away , you can also get stickers of black cats, maybe that will help or better still they do one of a hawk flying that would probably frighten them away from the windows.

[shaneystar2]

Have a look at these links
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/information/wind ows.htm

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/hea lth/faqs.asp?view=print#tcm:9-126847

They may help and give you some ideas .
They see a reflection and think they can just carry on flying .You can get a plastic sticker thingy from the RSPB

[westere]

My Old Farmer Dad put 2" wide tape in a criss cross pattern on the windows of his Bungalow..It worked a treat!! Looks a bit unsightly but hey The birds live to see another day.

[My Angel Pie]

thank you all very much for your replies, really useful.

i hate to think of the poor things dying in such a way.

x

[eyeshade]

We had this last year including a young sparrowhawk. We bought some coloured beads to hang from the door and window, they come as one complete item and you can buy them quite cheaply from the shops or market, They blow about when the window is open and it scares them a litte so they avoid the window. You can then take it down when the young stop trying to fly in the wrong direction. It is very upsetting when this happens.

[heathfield]

Net (or voile) curtains worked for us.