It happened again, I'm always sad to open my back door and see a dead
sparrow lying on the ground, apparently crashing into the storm door
which in my case is just one big sheet of glass. The strange thing is
there's a regular door a few inches behind it with a 9-pane window on
top and blinds on the other side, so there's no "open room" that would
be visible to the bird to try to fly into.

Seems like it's always sparrows, they must be prone to do this sometimes.

I always give them a decent burial in the nearby woods.

On 1/27/2023 5:10 PM, super70s wrote:
> It happened again, I'm always sad to open my back door and see a dead
> sparrow lying on the ground, apparently crashing into the storm door
> which in my case is just one big sheet of glass. The strange thing is
> there's a regular door a few inches behind it with a 9-pane window on
> top and blinds on the other side, so there's no "open room" that would
> be visible to the bird to try to fly into.
>
> Seems like it's always sparrows, they must be prone to do this sometimes.
>
> I always give them a decent burial in the nearby woods.

Awwww. :( Several years ago there was a bird that kept flying into the
back window of my bedroom. I think it was doing it on purpose although
I couldn't say why. I keep the window blinds in that room down so
there's no way the bird thought it could fly straight through. I didn't
find a dead bird, though. Maybe it got a headache and gave up. Sorry
to hear about the sparrow.

Jill

On 1/28/2023 6:24 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 1/27/2023 5:10 PM, super70s wrote:
>> It happened again, I'm always sad to open my back door and see a dead
>> sparrow lying on the ground, apparently crashing into the storm door
>> which in my case is just one big sheet of glass. The strange thing is
>> there's a regular door a few inches behind it with a 9-pane window on
>> top and blinds on the other side, so there's no "open room" that would
>> be visible to the bird to try to fly into.
>>
>> Seems like it's always sparrows, they must be prone to do this sometimes.
>>
>> I always give them a decent burial in the nearby woods.
>
>
> Awwww. :(  Several years ago there was a bird that kept flying into the back
> window of my bedroom.  I think it was doing it on purpose although I
> couldn't say why.  I keep the window blinds in that room down so there's no
> way the bird thought it could fly straight through.  I didn't find a dead
> bird, though.  Maybe it got a headache and gave up.  Sorry to hear about the
> sparrow.
>
> Jill
Always a shame, but coming in like a free bird in flight can still happen
due to reflections if they come in a bit of an angle. They don't get much of
a learning curve.

On 1/28/2023 6:24 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 1/27/2023 5:10 PM, super70s wrote:
>> It happened again, I'm always sad to open my back door and see a dead
>> sparrow lying on the ground, apparently crashing into the storm door
>> which in my case is just one big sheet of glass. The strange thing is
>> there's a regular door a few inches behind it with a 9-pane window on
>> top and blinds on the other side, so there's no "open room" that would
>> be visible to the bird to try to fly into.
>>
>> Seems like it's always sparrows, they must be prone to do this sometimes.
>>
>> I always give them a decent burial in the nearby woods.
>
>
> Awwww. :(  Several years ago there was a bird that kept flying into the back
> window of my bedroom.  I think it was doing it on purpose although I
> couldn't say why.  I keep the window blinds in that room down so there's no
> way the bird thought it could fly straight through.  I didn't find a dead
> bird, though.  Maybe it got a headache and gave up.  Sorry to hear about the
> sparrow.
>
> Jill
Always a shame, but coming in like a free bird in flight can still happen
due to reflections if they come in a bit of an angle. They don't get much of
a learning curve.

jmcquown wrote:
> Several years ago there was a bird that kept flying into the
> back window of my bedroom. I think it was doing it on purpose although
> I couldn't say why. I keep the window blinds in that room down so
> there's no way the bird thought it could fly straight through.

It's territorial behavior. He was seeing his own reflection in your
window. He didn't like another male bird being there, and was trying
to drive him off. Hence the window-bashing.

As a rule, only males do this, and the behavior ends once nesting
season is over, although I think there have been cases where it occurs
at other times of the year. Temporarily covering the window from the
outside is the easiest way to stop it. A sheet of cardboard is usually
enough.

Much more info on birds hitting windows here
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/why-birds-hit-windows-and-how-you-can-help-prevent-it/#

The article talks about both kinds of window strikes: birds thinking
they can fly through the window, and ones that see their reflection
and think it's a rival bird.