Can anyone explain strange female orchard oriole behavior? (please read details)?

Question

A female orchard oriole has been flying into a few windows of our house for a few days now, a little like she is attacking the windows? I thought she feared her reflection was another female, but apparently they are not very territorial... does anyone have a clue what this could be? I don't want her to hurt herself.

Answer 1

Probably it is a case of her seeing her reflection, thinking it is another bird, and she is acting to drive it off, probably in response to a nest in the area, or preparing to nest in the area.

I have also heard of cases of birds seeing something inside, past the window, and try to get to it. I had a raptor rehabilitator tell me about an eagle who crashed into a picture window trying to get a stuffed animal (it was of a common loon) that was sitting inside the house next to the window.

To stop her, try drawing the blinds/shades or placing several window clings up.

Answer 2

She's protecting her nest, looking for a new place to hunt insects, or maybe she's been eating rotting fruit. Birds have been known to get "drunk" from eating fermenting rotten fruit. Birds fly into windows all the time. She may be trying to take bugs on the wing, and overshooting her trajectory, which means she is hitting the window not realizing it's in the way of her flight path. I had a cardinal that hit my bedroom window almost every morning for about 2 weeks-- with the curtains closed. I found him dead outside my window finally. Try putting masking tape across the exterior of the window, but even that may not work. Once a bird has got it in their head that a window is a gateway to a new universe (or whatever the hell goes thru their minds), it's pretty hard to change them. Good luck.

Answer 3

My guess is that the window is working like a mirror. The
bird sees it as more blue sky, trees or whatever it is reflecting.
A full length screen would be the only thing to stop it. A white
curtain might cut back on the reflection more than a dark color.
Good luck to both you and the bird.

Answer 4

It may be that she is in "nesting" mode and is trying to protect either eggs or nestlings. This would increase her sense of territoriality temporarily. See if placing something directly onto the window (a "clingy" of some sort) that will break up the image stops the behavior.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Orchard_Oriole_dtl.html

Answer 5

Maybe she's drawn to the lights inside. Are your windows super clean? It could be that she doesn't know there are any windows there. Try putting the drapes down, or placing decals in the windows.
Thanks for caring about the bird! Good luck!