Your House as an Instrument - Tapping and Drumming

Spring is bubbling up inside of our birds already and it causes them to do things that we consider strange like spending all day tapping on windows. We often take this pattering as an indication that the bird wants us to fill the feeder. I believe that’s sometimes the case but rarely. What’s usually happening with your tapping titmouse, your chiding chickadee, or your blithering bluebird is that the bird is simply perceiving its reflection as a threat and so it is attacking it.

The urge to defend a territory gives out before windows do. That’s why some of you have experienced this phenomenon for months on end. If you are able to endure this period of territorial tapping then it might be best to wait it out. There are times, though, that something has to be done. I once helped a customer whose newborn baby’s sleep was being disrupted by a Northern Cardinal. A temporary screen solved the issue for the baby but the problem moved to a different room. If nobody can get any peace then there are other [legal] remedies. Lowering the blinds often works as do realistic looking woodpecker decoys. As a last-ditch effort, you can set up a mirror in a distant part of the yard. This doesn’t solve the issue for the bird, though. It will likely even make it worse and that could end up costing the bird the fitness it’s trying to demonstrate.

While territorial tapping is a difficult problem to solve, it’s far less dangerous to the bird than a full speed fly-through attempt. Fly-throughs occur when a bird attempts to fly into the space or onto an object behind a window. These are high velocity strikes and they are deadly. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize or even eliminate the potential for fly-through strikes. Decals can cause birds to recognize a window as a solid obstacle but a screen may become necessary where window strikes persist. If strikes occur because birds are being scared off of feeders then you might have to move the feeder. Each situation is a little different.

Woodpeckers are well known for their various tapping behaviors but they rarely tap on windows in territorial defense. However, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers commonly use corner posts, fascia board, and metal flashing as a resonating surface for drumming from late winter well into spring. While some people naively interpret this behavior as “dumb,” it’s really an ingenious method of expanding territory.

Protecting Nestlings and Fledglings

Bringing birds to your feeder can generate a lot of enjoyment but hosting a breeding family of birds can be endlessly entertaining and educational. Nest failure is a fact of life for birds but there are a few simple steps you can take to increase the likelihood that your nestlings will fledge and your fledglings will fly.

Pole-mounted and baffled—Nesting boxes are often mounted where they can’t be effectively baffled against predators like raccoons or snakes. Move your nesting box to a pole to which you can affix a raccoon baffle. Our APS Bluebird Pole works great for most nesting boxes. Raccoon baffles also work well against snakes although large yellow rat snakes sometimes require a custom cut 3’ square hardware screen accessory baffle.

Mesh raccoon guard—Raccoons might still be able to climb onto the nest box but keep them from getting into the cavity as easily.

Port guards—Red-bellied Woodpeckers are notorious for enlarging a cavity entrance to a bluebird house. A thin, circular strip of metal around the cavity entrance can do a lot to deter chewing and excavation. We also have in stock a wooden entrance extender to guard against this. Squirrels and larger bird species have a more difficult time getting into a nesting box designed for smaller species if reinforced with a port guard.

Protect fledgling areas—After leaving the nest, most species of songbird spend the first few days of their lives on or near the ground. A nest that is high enough to be safe from dogs and cats doesn’t do any good for the birds after they’ve fledged. Keep pets away from areas un-der the nest where fledglings will be looking for shelter.

Leave it be—A fledgling might look like it needs to be returned to the nest but if it’s feathered and alert, it probably just needs to be left to fledge on its own.