Covid, CMWR and birds

     As the rest of the world seems to shut down and circle their wagons, here at CMWR we are bursting at the seams!  I don't believe I have ever seen this many animals come through our doors in such a short period of time, and I certainly know I have never experienced 10 to 20 phone calls a day concerning animals before.  It doesn't give us much time to even think about the COVID virus but we do wonder if this increase is due to many people staying at home and paying attention to the world around them as the temps warm up.
    If you think about it, so many people are now at home experiencing daily life that they haven't had time to notice before.  The number of calls about birds hitting windows has tripled, as has the calls for most other wildlife calls.  I don't think birds have suddenly gone crazy and decided to attack their reflection, we just have never been home to notice these things before.
   So here is what you do. First we need to understand that this bird is trying to protect his territory where a mate or nest may be sitting near by.  Shouting at the bird, moving it elsewhere, or putting window clings on the inside of your window wont help.  The bird is just seeing his reflection and he thinks he needs to frighten this other bird away.  
   The best remedy is also the easiest.  All you need to do is rub a bar of soap on the outside of the window or smear liquid soap on it.  This makes the window less reflective and will wash off after a few rain showers. More often than not, when the soap washes off, the bird is usually finished protecting his territory and will have forgotten all about his rival in the window.