Another Bird Hits the Glass
Guilt over having clean windows
I hate it when I hear the sound of a bird crashing into a window. They rarely hit when the windows are dirty so in a way I have their fate in my hands.
Birds crashing is a direct function of the size of the window and the clarity of the glass. I have a few big windows that I rarely clean because they’re high up and hard to reach. One of those I almost have to rope up to clean.
The last time it was cleaned the crashes started almost immediately. Donk! I rushed over, hoping I wouldn’t see a small inert body on the ground. No casualties. Later that day, Donk! When I checked, the ground was clear. Thank goodness.
I don’t want to create hazards for our feathered friends with whom we reportedly share a common ancestor, even if that was 330 million years ago. In a manner of speaking, birds are family and we should be looking out for family.
Someone pointed out that crashing birds almost always fly away. I got to thinking. When a bird hits the glass and flies away, are they embarrassed? Is flying into glass something they will have to live down in aviary circles? Do they look around quickly to see if other birds saw? Do the teenage (male) birds pretend to have done it as a kind of gag?
