Michael -
I had to deal with queries like this all the time when I worked for Birds
Australia.
Most bird-strike-on-window problems seem to happen for three reasons:
1. Glare from internal lights at night dazzling the birds (probably not
applicable in your case but a big problem with office lights in big cities
at times of mass migration at night).
2. Invisibility - when the birds see an apparent clear passage through the
house to the other side. This can be fixed by barriers such as blinds
blocking the view through.
3. Reflection - when the window reflects the sky or space between vegetation
so giving the impression of a clear passage. This also causes problems with
birds seeing their reflections in the glass and expending much energy in
attacking their perceived rivals. This cannot be fixed by internal
barriers; you need external ones such as Merrilyn's suggestion of fly-wire
screens, or a layer of grime (or speckling of thinly sprayed paint) to cut
the reflection. Even if the windows are not washed externally, rain can
still keep the exterior surface reflecting well. Storm's suggestion of
shading should help by cutting sky reflection. Or you need something to
block the approach to force any would-be fly-through visitors to slow down
sufficiently to either see the window or, at least, minimise impact trauma.
For the longer term you could plant a shrub or tree to block what might seem
to a bird to be a nice clear flight-path.
It is often only one or two windows on a house that present a bird-strike
problem, for reasons particular to those windows. In my experience #3 of
the above reasons is more common than #2. The sometimes advertised or
recommended raptor silhouettes, that one can buy or make to stick on the
inside of the window to prevent bird-strike, are totally useless for #3 and
usually not particularly effective for #2.
Cheers,
Hugo
Hugo Phillipps
Queenscliff, Vic
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