Raging Robin: Are You Talkin' to Me?

An Alpine Road woman told police on April 11 that a robin keeps attacking the glass sliding door in back of her house. Monroe Animal Control Officer Ed Risko says it's likely the bird sees its own reflection and is protecting its nest. He said this is a common occurrence.

According to "American Robin", an article on learner.org, when a robin hits a window it's either trying to fly through or it is mistaking its own reflection for another bird encroaching on its territory.

"If a male sees a male robin, or a female sees a female, it goes ballistic and tries to chase it away," the online article says.

It goes on to say most robins that repeatedly crash into windows are territorial males:

If a male sees his reflection in the glass, he thinks it could be another male in his territory. Normally when one male robin intrudes on another's territory, he skulks around, and flies away when the actual holder of the territory approaches. Not so with a reflection! Every time your robin gets close to the window, that robin image also comes closer. When your robin assumes an aggressive stance, rather than turning tail and flying away, the image robin assumes an equally aggressive stance, and at every level of increasing aggression in your robin, his reflection matches it. Male robins spend a lot of time and energy keeping intruders away during the time the female is nest-building and incubating eggs.

A solution to the problem is to eliminate the reflection. Learner.org says taping paper or cardboard to the outside of the window would do that, but it is unsightly and defeats the purpose of having a window. "Soaping the window from the outside can work, but you really need to cover the entire thing," it says.

Hanging helium balloons from the window or placing a rubber snake or plastic owl by the window are other potential solutions mentioned.

Once the baby robins hatch, the article says the male robin will be so busy tending to their feeding "that he will stop worrying about that phantom image of himself."