Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Reeeeeally bad headache

I heard a thump the other day, and almost the same instant saw a tiny bird bounce off our front door window. I went over and fully expected to see a dead bird on the porch.

But he wasn't dead.


For the longest time, he just sat there on the concrete, rocking the tiniest bit. I could almost feel his pain. It hurt just to watch that pathetic tiny little rocking motion.


Since this is the door our dog Lydia uses to go into the yard, I locked it so no one would accidentally let her out. But after an hour, when the bird still hadn't moved, I decided to move him into a box lined with a towel and put him in another location so he could recuperate in peace.

But when I unlocked the door, it looked up at me with a bright eye.


When I opened the door, he flew away. A little unsteadily, it's true, but at least he was airborne.

I've seen birds kill themselves after smacking into glass, so despite the massive headache this little guy must have had, I'm glad he made it.

18 comments:

  1. This is exactly how I felt after purchasing a computer with 'windows' 8 on it.

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  2. The Finches used to hit our windows at my folk's home in Minnesota in the winter. We would slide them on to a newspaper, put a metal strainer over them and bring them into the warmth until they came to so they wouldn't get too cold. When they were alert again we'd let them go. Natokadn

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  3. it happens a couple of times a year here at the Manor...if the light is just right then we'll get a bird bounce off one of our windows. we always go and check on them and then hubby or i put them up on a tree branch and then go and check on them every half hour or so. so far they have all flown away after they have gotten some rest. thank goodness!

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  4. A hummingbird hit our window one time when we lived in Colorado. I went out onto the front porch and held it in the palm of my hand while I sat in our glider. I held him and prayed for him for about 45 minutes with almost no signs of life until the last five minutes or so. He gradually started blinking and after a few minutes he flew away. It was one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had.

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  5. This happens here a lot. I scoop them up and hold them until they recover, and then they fly off! They seem to stun themselves, and the warmth of my hands helps.

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  6. I happens about once a month here in central Texas. They usually don't actually knock themselves out but seem stunned for a moment. Apparently the inside is very attractive to them!

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  7. Put something in or in front of the window so they can see it! It's apparently caused by some glitch in their eyesight, and if there's something opaque(sic?) they can see, obviously they don't fly into the window and hurt themselves.

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  8. We used to live where there a lot of trees. We had one window that the birds were running into all the time. The wife got some opaque leaf stickies, I think they were designed for either sliding glass doors or shower glass, and stuck a bunch on to the window glass. That solved the problem about 95% of the time.

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    1. Good topic for we bird lovers. Oh how I used to dread hearing 'the thump' and then seeing a bird lying on the ground.

      Like Steve, we also had good results using decals. Looking from the outside at our slider door glass all you could see was the reflection of the woods. Now 4 decals on each of the two glass panes break up the view for the birds. The decals are opaque so visibility from inside looking outside is still very good.

      Search Amazon for Window Alert Hummingbird Decals. You'll find them listed for $8.11.

      Montana Guy

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  9. My dad and stepmom had that problem a lot after they put in a plate-glass picture window (ironically so they could sit at the kitchen table and view the birds).

    My stepmom practically had a breakdown every time it happened, so my dad got a bunch of window stickies and suncatchers to decorate the window with. It cut waaaaaay down on the problem.

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  10. Our home in Wyoming has a south face that is mostly windows. In March, on overcast days, it is like a mirror and every year the same type of finches fly into them. The worst was the day 10 broke their necks. I was thankful that our weather was usually sunny, as it was heartbreaking.

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    1. We called them the "dumb furple pinches". For some reason about 90% were female Purple Finches. Our back yard feeder traffic was included in the local winter bird count for about 20 years. We enjoyed it and counted from our warm family room! One year we saw 24 male Cardinals at once! Natokadn

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  11. We have had a similar thing happen to us in the past. I used to work for a wildlife rehab group and learned the acronym "WDQ" - warm, dark, and quiet. That is what these birds need in this case, and they often recover just fine!

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  12. Poor baby! A few years back I was walking into our local library when a bird flew in past me. The poor thing proceeded to smack itself into the stacks and shelves while people just stood about watching. I walked by the Librarian and said "give me a few minutes undisturbed and I will get the bird for you". After 10-15 minutes I cornered the bird in a quiet place and let it catch it's breath while I talked to it. The poor thing already had a headache from banging into things. I talked quietly to it while it gathered it's composure and then it simply jumped onto my finger which I had held out for a perch. I walked out of the library with the bird perched on my finger with everyone else watching and commenting. (OMG, look she has the bird!!!) The poor bird still had a bad headache. I walked it to a small tree outside the library and perched it on a branch while it continued to gather it's wits and rest. I talked to it softly for a while and then left it alone. When I walked back into the library I saw quite a few people watching me. They asked where the bird was, so I told them. It was an odd episode in a regular day but I just know in my spirit that the bird appreciated my help. Who knows.... It was one of God's creatures.

    God Bless,
    Janet in MA

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  13. At work once a Mourning Dove and medium sized hawk both crashed into a reflective plateglass window in a room that extended out from the main building. We heard a loud boom and walked outside to find both birds dead, killed instantly from the high speed impact.

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  14. Probably thinking where the heck was my air traffic control?

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