Sorry, this isn't going to be some sexist screed. I mentioned this already in another thread, but a female cardinal has been driving us crazy for over two weeks. She sits on a witch hazel tree near our kitchen window, then repeatedly hurls herself against windowpanes or transom. She looks pissed off. Her mate, keeping a few feet away, looks embarrassed. I've toyed with several hypotheses. She's seen The Birds. She's a Republican and doesn't like our Kerry sign She's bats. She's horny and her mate is gay.
Finally I googled on "female caridinal behavior" and got numerous sites. Apparently this crazy stuff is common in cardinals. She may see her reflection and attack it as a rival.
Here's a sample reply to my query.
Q: We have a female cardinal who has declared war on our house. She starts whacking herself into our windows at six a.m. and will not quit until the sun goes down. How long can I expect this behavior to last?
The behavior will last through the breeding season. It's a territorial reaction to seeing an intruder on her "turf. Covering the windows with screens will help, but when we had the same problem a fewyears ago, the bird just moved to another window. A sharp-shinned hawk put our bird out of its misery. You may try screening, or cellophane on the outside surfaces of the window. Remove any perches from which the bird can see itself in the windows. And continue to harass the bird to try to shock it out of its pattern of territoriality. (Spraying the bird with the garden hose may work, and rubber snakes hung by the windows sometime do the trick.) If all else fails, call your local wildlife officials and ask them to come out and remove the bird for you. It's drastic, but it will end the problem for good.
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"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument." William Gibbs McAdoo. US Vice-President under Woodrow Wilson.
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