Spring, when critters go nuts?

[Spotteddog]

Spotted and spotted bride are out on the deck enjoying coffee and the paper when "THUMP"!
It sounds as though someone has tried to deliver a second Sunday paper by throwing it at the 1/3 side panel of the picture window. Going into the dining then living room through the French doors. I see a huge Starling, dead center of the window, hanging flaccid by it's beak from the screen. The impact must have broken it's neck? Question is, whether he was battling his reflection "rival", or just saw the rarely blue sky here being reflected in the glass, and thought it was a fly through!

 

[Spotteddog]

Spotted and spotted bride are out on the deck enjoying coffee and the paper when "THUMP"!
It sounds as though someone has tried to deliver a second Sunday paper by throwing it at the 1/3 side panel of the picture window. Going into the dining then living room through the French doors. I see a huge Starling, dead center of the window, hanging flaccid by it's beak from the screen. The impact must have broken it's neck? Question is, whether he was battling his reflection "rival", or just saw the rarely blue sky here being reflected in the glass, and thought it was a fly through!

 

[David LaPell]

Up here in the Adirondacks, you're likely to have a ruffed grouse come through your living room in the spring. The old timers called it "crazy flight."

 

[don95sml]

You might be interested to check out:
www.birdwindowcollisions.com/

 

[7.62foryou]

Also when ground feeding birds like Starlings eat enough fermented berries they get well, drunk. Flying and fermented berries don't mix well.

 

[Spotteddog]

I'm not so hot at this?
I'll try to add a JPG of the suicidal avian who turned out to be a Varied Thrush..

 

[pred]

Mabey there was a tasty bug on the screen?
I am almost ashamed, But that pic made me laugh.
That pic IS a thousand words!
Sorry about the hole in the screen though.
Peter

 

[7.62foryou]

Pretty bird, not too bright though. With the screen over the window I doubt it saw a reflection.

 

[Spotteddog]

We're quite near a Naval air station, perhaps he'd seen an FA-18 once too often and got delusions of grandeur? Unfortunately, I think he's one of 3 males that use our sunflower seed suet feeders regularly. Believe it or not, there's a giant Heron that tries two or three times a year to eat the Coy out of the neighbors water rock garden! He can't quite make take off from their tight back yard. So he goes from their yard, to another neighbors roof, then takes off. The weight of the fish keeps him from leaving as he arrived, I guess?

 

[Bassamatic]

That's a great picture.

Think about all the stories you can make up on how that came to be.

Hell, you could even do a caption this.

 

[Wheelgunner840]

Caption for the picture:

"I have seen some strange doorknockers in my day, but that one takes the cake!"


WG840

 

[rundownfid]

We have a wacko blue bird that is sitting on my drivers side mirror and then picking fights with the window. He appears to loose focus and then attack the mirror. Most days both are covered with bird droppings and feathers. Most mornings they are streaked up like a death cage match had just taken place. I'm not sure if he is happy cause he wins or just comes back daily for his whooping? I wish he would find a mate and settle down, preferably at a neighbors.

 

[jkc]

The image reminds me of once finding a bat, wings fully spread, impaled, dessicated, on the branch of a cholla cactus, which is sort of the botanical equivalent of a porcupine tail. Looks like pilot error in both incidents.

 

[Spotteddog]

My Wife, (the one with 2 masters and working on a doctorate) tells me, that earlier when I related the Heron attempting to snatch sustenance from the neighbors rock/water garden, I got the proper name of the fish being featured by the neighbors for the interloping Heron wrong? Sorry? It should have read Koi, not Coy as I wrote earlier.
My bet is that no matter how I spelled it, they still tasted like big, gold colored Carp. At least to the Heron anyway!
On a serious note. I'm thinking of changing the avatar photo I use to the one above.
It about sums up how the 21st century has made me feel so far.
And 840, the line about the door knocker damned near had her in Depends!

 

[parallel]

Poor fella... oh well... survival of the fittest and all that.

When I first bought this house the master bedroom window was a heavily tinted sliding window. The first couple of summers that we lived here a Cardinal would wake me up like clockwork "fighting" with his own reflection. When I got a different job and could sleep past 6:30 AM it was no longer amusing. I replaced every window and door in my house soon after and never had that happen since (was planned regardless of the bird). Now I just have a swarm of honey bees after my holly tree every spring (which wouldn't be a big deal except the holly tree is right by the front door. I don't get many visitors this time of year.