Pine Siskin Reference

[LCorbett]

I've posted an album of reference pictures I took of a Pine Siskin that committed suicide on my window.
Closes ups of wing, coverts, tail and back.
The ants had started on it when I found it, which is why there are no head shots...icky...

Pine Siskin Reference

[BobD]

Cool...Thanks Lori!!!

Now the little Tim Burton in me wants to see the head shots <GRIN>

Bob

[LCorbett]

Oh You're BAD, spit my coffee on that one...going to H311 for that one for sure...LMBO...let me see if I can find him again...eeewwww....

[BobD]

Just had a mental image of those three little ghouls from "Nightmare Before Christmas"...those ones who kidnapped Santa Clause...or any of the "underground" characters from "A Corpse Bride."

Bob

[Mottles]

Thank you, Lori for the reference images, to bad the poor thing crashed into your window. We get bird strikes in the spring and summer at our patio sliding door. Some hit so hard they leave a 'negative impression' on the glass. It's usally a mad dash to get to the downed bird before our Jack Russell K.T. see's and gets to it. I have actually revived them by putting it in a paper bag and just let it get it wits. I've actually had them fly away...hopefully to live another day.
Kathy

[LCorbett]

Mottles, I think my problem is that my studio has windows all around and the birds can see "through"...whap! More often than not, they do just stun themselves, and I'm able to revive them. One of my favorite things is to turn it over on its back and stroke its belly. They fall asleep! The first time I did that, I thought the poor thing died, and when I started to turn it over, it came "alive" and flew off. So now that is my ritual. Put your hand over its head to cover its eyes, then turn it over on its back in your other hand. I kind of cradle it to give it some warmth, then stroke its breast softly. For some reason, they relax. I've done this with all kinds of birds, including hummers.

Bob....like I said....hahahahahaha

[Hugh-P]

I think that would work for me also,

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I have found the the triangle shaped pendants the car lots use are great for keeping birds out of your fruit trees, grapes etc.....maybe some of the banners hung above the windows will keep the birds from flying into the glass? The pendants being independent of each other move differently in a breeze, any consistant movement the birds get use to , but this is not consistant and seems to keep them spooked and away...... they didn't get any of my grapes last year and none so far this year lol

[LCorbett]

I've tried nearly everything...but an especially bad idea was putting a feeder in front of the window...LMBO....
Thanks for the suggestions.

[Paul_Guraedy]

Lori, most of our visitor centers in the parks had very large windows. Part of the problem seems to be reflection. It appears to the birds that there is not a barrier there.

We tried many different things (and combinations) and none were fool proof. The one that seemed to help the most was the silhouette of a falcon. Just "rough cut" one out and tape it in the window. We had to move them around a little to balance visitor view and bird protection. The silhouette we found was more acceptable (well...ok....we got the least complaints) and did not distract from the view as much as others we tried.

I have 3 seed feeders and 8 humminbird feeders on my front porch along with huge windows (4'x8' each). When the stunned and killed birds started, I tried the silhouette. There are still occasional stuns but kills have almost stopped. Even the birds that hit the window are usually turning back away from the predator silhouette and not hurt as bad as they were before.

I have found that leaving birds where they fall is almost certain death for them. Now, I pick them up and cup my hands around them to keep them warm; even on a warm day. Sometimes I have held them for as long as 15-20 minutes before they start to blink and look around. I open my hands a little and before long they take off. I will try the belly rub. Maybe that will speed things up a little.