A thud as something hit our first floor back window. What was it? We go out to look and find a dazed goldfinch motionless on the ground. What to do? A quick google revealed the following advice from the Humane Society:
- Gently cover and catch the bird with a towel and place her in a paper bag or cardboard box (with air holes) that is securely closed.
- Keep the bird in a quiet, warm, dark place, away from activity.
- Check on the bird every 30 minutes, but don’t touch the bird.
- If the bird seems to recover, carry the container outside and open it. Then step back, remain quiet, and see if the bird flies away. If she doesn’t fly away, carefully take her back inside.
- If the bird doesn’t recover within a few hours, but is still breathing, contact a wildlife rehabilitator.
We put our goldfinch in a large bag and left him/her in the kitchen. 90 minutes later, s/he was standing and alert. As soon as we moved the bag to the back door, s/he flew into the pyracantha opposite the door, hopefully none the worse for the experience. We were certainly very relieved.
Birds collide with windows because they are confused by reflections of sky or greenery – double glazed windows are worse than single glazed in this respect. Apparently, about half of collisions are fatal, so our goldfinch was lucky. Complete prevention is impossible, but the likelihood can be reduced.
The first thing to do is consider where you have placed bird feeders and move them away from windows. Make the windows existence as a solid object more obvious by sticking something to the window pane; any shape will do, but the RSPB and other organisations sell hawk-shaped silhouettes which are considered effective. Do you have a mirror on the wall opposite the window? If so, consider moving that. Another idea is putting a dead branch in front of the window (which will prompt birds to slow down).