What to do if a bird flies into your window

Crash! Thump! It can be quite a shock to hear a bird fly into your window, especially if you’re sitting right next to it at the time.

Your immediate thought will likely be, ‘What the [BLEEP] was that?’ For sure you’ll want to take a look outside to see what caused it. You may not expect to see an injured bird on the ground, but if that’s what you find, what should you do?

This is a problem with a sticky solution that can stop it happening again, but more about that shortly. First, here’s what the experts say you should (and shouldn’t) do to help a fallen feathered friend: 

Don’t call the RSPB

If you’re in the UK, you might think that the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) should be your best and first place to contact. But that’s not the case. As their website says, they’re a conservation charity protecting bird habitats and connecting people to nature. They don’t have the expertise or facilities to rescue that bird that just banged into your window.

You can contact your local vet

No vet is obliged to help treat an injured bird for free, and they are unlikely to be experts in the field. However, they may know someone who can help. That’s why it’s best to call ahead rather than turn up at their surgery with an injured bird in a box. Your vet may have contacts with wildlife rescue groups in your area who may be better placed to help.

You might want to help the injured bird yourself. If so…

As it’s not always easy to find help straight away, here’s a summary of the advice provided by various experts in the UK if you want to intervene to help that bird that just flew into your window:

Monitor the bird’s condition for 2 hours

The Royal Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) website says it’s best to monitor the bird for a couple of hours if it appears to be stunned from the impact with your window, rather than injured.

Do not offer the bird food or water

Unless an expert you’ve spoken to says it’s OK to feed or water that injured bird, leave it be.

Put the injured bird in a protective box

Consider placing the bird in a well-ventilated box, as giving it somewhere dark in which it can rest can aid its recovery. But please note that the advice is not to touch any bird if there are reports of bird flu in your area.

The box should be lined with tissue and big enough to give the bird space to move around inside and should be covered to protect it from the elements – but don’t forget those all-important ventilation holes.

As well as being dark, make the box warm as this will help calm the bird down. Consider placing a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel inside or next to the box. If placing inside, be sure there’s room for the bird to move away from the heat source if it wants to. If you see the bird panting, remove the heat straight away.

After a couple of hours, open the box and give the bird a chance to fly away. If it can’t, the advice from the RSPCA is to contact your local vet as it’s likely the bird is injured rather than stunned.

How to pick up an injured bird

When transferring an injured bird to your recovery box, obviously you must handle it with extreme care. As you try to pick up the bird, your approach may cause it to fly away – which suggests it has recovered from being stunned or has a leg injury which doesn’t prevent it from flying. But if it can’t fly away, this advice on how to handle an injured bird comes from The Wildlife Trusts:

Small Birds:         Hold firmly in one hand so that its head is between your index finger and middle fingers, with your other fingers naturally wrapped around its wings

Medium Birds: Hold the bird in both hands with each hand covering a wing

Large Birds:        These are best left to experts to handle as they can cause injuries during rescue attempts

Birds usually prefer their wings resting against their bodies when not in flight. They have delicate bones which injure easily. They are also easily shocked, and being handled by a human will be a stressful experience for them, so much so they may even try to bite you. That’s why an adult should always carry out this part of an injured bird rescue.

Be sure to remember to thoroughly wash your hands after handling wildlife.

Have some sympathy for your injured bird

You might think how could a bird fly into your window in the first place? But hold on a minute.

Us humans have been known to bump into glass doors or windows that we don’t know are there, so it can happen to anyone! And young birds especially can get confused by reflections in the glass and think your window is the path to that tree they can see.

And then you might think, why is this bird flapping around and trying to bite me when all I’m trying to do is help it? Obviously, the bird doesn’t know you’re trying to help, and is likely to be stressed, so always bear that in mind.

How you can stop birds flying into your window and hurting themselves.

Prevention is better than cure, or so they say. And here’s where that sticky solution mentioned earlier comes into play. Because by placing stickers in your windows, you’ll not only reduce the reflection that can confuse birds, you’ll also deter them from wanting to venture anywhere near the window in the first place. That’s why stickers of other garden birds, or even birds of prey are an excellent choice.

You can find window stickers designed to prevent birds from flying into your glass here at the RSPB shop.

If you’ve found this article useful, please give it a like as it’ll make the writer’s day!  Jon Lymon is the author of children’s fiction, including a picture book based on the real life tale of a robin who flew into his window. You can find out more about Erin Robin and the Hungriest Cat here.