Concussion Protocol

This is a Tufted Titmouse. A stunned Tufted Titmouse. It recently slammed into to the sliding glass doors leading out form our living room. I took this shot with my iPhone just before I picked the bird up.

It struggled briefly in my hands but soon calmed down. As with all such stunned birds, I placed it in a protected place out in the garden. And it eventually recovered and flew off.

Our feeders attract birds looking for food (duh!) but not always the food we put out. The birds themselves are sometimes food for other birds. Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawks regularly visit the feeders, sending the rest of the birds into a panicked rush to the trees.

And in their haste reflections of trees look just as good as the real thing. And thus the occasional "thud" we hear as bird hits window.

Not all are as fortunate as the titmouse. The Dark-eyed Junco below did not survive its encounter.

This is the view from behind the garden. You can see the sliding glass doors at the left edge of the house, looking here into our living room. You can see the feeders in the garden area as well. We try to keep them a good distance from the windows, but a panicked bird may still bolt that way.

We've also hung strings in front of the windows which, by swaying in the wind, break up the reflected view. And decals on the windows that are barely visible to humans but supposedly obvious to the birds. Thankfully, we don't get many thuds, but it is a sad sound when we do.