I have a question. I'm not a bird watcher but I do have a couple of pair of Cardinals that come back every year & nest in our back yard. However this year, a female Cardinal has been pecking & flying into my glass sliding door. We have mirrored tint & she's never come this close to the house. She does this everyday for 2 weeks now, from morning to evening. Now she has started pecking at a side window of our house & on the windshield of my SUV. We put a birdhouse for her in a tree in our backyard but I think she must already have a nest somewhere. Should I put her a bird feeder & bird bath in my yard? It was cute at first but it's annoying now. I occasionally put out bread crumbs for her & put a big bowl of water out for her. The male only comes around when there is food otherwise he stays away from the house. Any suggestions? I have Video of her doing this but don't know if I can post it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MVwXEo22HM
Need help with a female Cardinal
Hi maters, The video is very good. Besides putting something on the glass to keep her from seeing her reflection (which she thinks is a competing female), I can't think of anything else.
Hopefully others will chime in with suggestions. I've never had this problem myself.
Here is a page with some suggestions. http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Cardinals-Windows.html
Thank you so much pelletory, that site was very helpful. The last thing I want to happen is for the Cardinal to hurt herself or die. Gonna get started right away on doing some of those tips.
We live in a home with many windows on the side of a wooded hill and had many bird catastrophes for years. My local bird store told me to put something up in front of the windows that would blow around. We tried several things, then, in a moment of brilliance, I thought of mylar curling ribbon (silver). I cut 2' strips, left it curly, and taped it to the windows. That was 2 years ago and we have not had one single occurrence of a bird hitting a window. Of course, our house looks like it is dressed for a party, but why not? It's a bird party. For the neighborhood sake I didn't put it on the front of the house, but that wasn't where the problem was anyway. Good luck.
Update, I taped Red ribbons on my glass sliding door & she is no longer pecking at it. She is still pecking at the side window under my carport which has reflective tint on it. I plan on putting more ribbon on it since it seems to be working on the glass sliding door. The other problem is, she is pecking at the windows of my SUV which I park under my carport. I'm definitely not going to put ribbons on my windows but I thought about buying a figure of an Owl & and hang it in my Carport over my truck. Wish me luck. She needs to be nesting instead of pecking at my windows all day fighting with herself. I did also buy a bird feed which I've seen her and the male use.
Best of lucks to you MnT. They're really wonderful birds. Last year I witnessed the Papa Cardinal bringing their youngs to the feeder while his mate starting the subsequent broods. Watching them grow is indeed a joy. Love your backyard setting.
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