March 15, 2026
Nature Done Wright
Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs
Monday Morning Mystery 031113
How to stop a pesky robin from crashing in to our picture window
every few seconds for a month.
Nothing worked except hanging strips of
plastic bag outside of window so the air moved them. I tried everything
else.
Hopefully, this year we won't be visited, but it happened for
two straight years now.
I even got a plastic owl, and when that didn't
work, I drew a large, nasty-looking bird of prey picture and hung it
inside of my window thinking it would scare the robin away.
Anyone have an idea?
4 comments
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From Bird Watchers Digest:
1. Feather Guard. Perhaps my favorite reader tip of all time was featured as a “My Way” in the September/October 2001 issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest. The idea is called FeatherGuard. BWD reader Stiles Thomas of New Jersey created FeatherGuard. His creation consists of bird feathers strung about 8 inches apart on fishing line. These lines of feathers are then strung vertically across regularly struck windows. Birds see the feathers and do not continue to fly into the windows. Do the birds see the feathers as evidence of predation? Do the moving feathers frighten the birds? Nobody knows for sure, but I know from experience that FeatherGuard works! -
Feather Guard!
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Thansk, Rick!
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David Sibley put up a bunch of material about this problem a couple of years ago; he wound up using yellow highlighter. Here’s a discussion of a few other, apparently successful methods:
http://www.sibleyguides.com/2008/01/more-bird-friendly-window-treatments/






4 comments
Carol Flanagan
From Bird Watchers Digest:
1. Feather Guard. Perhaps my favorite reader tip of all time was featured as a “My Way” in the September/October 2001 issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest. The idea is called FeatherGuard. BWD reader Stiles Thomas of New Jersey created FeatherGuard. His creation consists of bird feathers strung about 8 inches apart on fishing line. These lines of feathers are then strung vertically across regularly struck windows. Birds see the feathers and do not continue to fly into the windows. Do the birds see the feathers as evidence of predation? Do the moving feathers frighten the birds? Nobody knows for sure, but I know from experience that FeatherGuard works!
Deedeeburnside
Feather Guard!
Jim Wright
Thansk, Rick!
Rick Wright
David Sibley put up a bunch of material about this problem a couple of years ago; he wound up using yellow highlighter. Here’s a discussion of a few other, apparently successful methods:
http://www.sibleyguides.com/2008/01/more-bird-friendly-window-treatments/