We have one of these adorable little Tufted Titmouses (Titmice?) banging into the window here at work several times a day. He looks ticked off. For a while we called him Jon Shelus after a guy who works here, since whenever the bird would appear Jon was nowhere in sight.
Here’s some information on why they do it:
Birds are hurling themselves against windows, hammering on drainpipes and pecking on glass. But don’t let it get to you — it won’t last much longer, says a wildlife biologist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
“At the beginning of the breeding season, birds are establishing territories,” says Margaret Brittingham, associate professor of wildlife resources. “They’re singing, displaying and telling all of the other males of their species to keep out.”
When a bird sees his reflection in a window, he thinks it’s an intruder, she says. So he ‘displays’ to try to get the intruder to leave. “Of course the ‘intruder’ displays back, and the bird gets madder and madder until he starts pecking on the glass.”
It’s cute when you think about it.
Titmice are so cute! A grackel was doing the same thing to the window during my yoga teacher training class. I feel sorry for the birds, as a lot of times they can knock themselves out trying to be macho.
Birds are pretty dumb, but also very interesting. I like grackels because of their weird call that sounds like crumpling paper.
WTF am I doing on your blog?!?!?!?!?!?