We are enjoying our first winter as full timers in Florida. We are primarily staying at state parks - moving every two weeks. We discovered that birds seem to love our rig. At the last state park (Myakka), we had a kamikaze cardinal that flew into our windows starting at the crack of dawn. It wasn’t once or twice - he constantly flew into the rear and side windows all morning - every day. He would fly into and bounce off the window and then return for another strike. My husband eventually tied a wind-sock to the rear ladder - which helped, but did not solve the problem. My husband also cut away the tree branch that he was perching on, but the problem continued.
We moved to another park and the same thing is happening again - different bird - possibly a gold finch. I think the bird sees its reflection in the windows of our Landmark, thinks it’s another bird, and tries to chase it away.
Has anyone experienced this? Your thoughts and ideas on how to prevent this are appreciated.
Barb
Someday said
03:22 PM Jan 3, 2018
Owl Decoys have usually assisted us where we want to deter smaller birds and the like of their prey around our properties. Just a thought :)
Happy New Year.
Barbaraok said
06:40 PM Jan 3, 2018
We have a decal on our door of Figment - a pink/purple dragon that drives hummingbird nuts. The colors attract and then we hear them trying to figure out where the 'center' of the pink/purple flower (as they see it) is. We have attached a small hummingbird feeder via suction cups to one window near the door and once they find the food, they leave the door alone.
Dutch said
08:00 PM Jan 3, 2018
When we were at Myakka last winter, we had a cardinal that kept attacking the chrome center hubs on our coach. Drove us crazy until I taped grocery bags over the hubs. He attacked windows a couple of times, but then he went away. I noticed a few other sites with bags covering chrome mirrors and hubs as well.
bjoyce said
09:24 AM Jan 4, 2018
Cardinals are not on the genius scale for birds. They think the reflection is a rival. We once had pea****s do the same with our wheels at a campground in Texas. Cover the parts that act like a mirror, if you can.
bjoyce said
09:25 AM Jan 4, 2018
Oh that is funny getting the asterisks. Maybe I should have said peafowl?
Barb and Frank said
09:53 AM Jan 4, 2018
Thanks everyone for the feedback - it sounds like we are not alone with our bird problem. It looks like we will have to come up with a plan to cover the windows to keep the birds away.
Stay warm!
Barb
Second Chance said
10:05 AM Jan 4, 2018
bjoyce wrote:
Oh that is funny getting the asterisks. Maybe I should have said peafowl?
That IS hilarious, Bill!
Barb - we have had this problem in several stix 'n brix, my wife's log cabin in east Tennessee (that one was a woodpecker), with the chrome mirrors on the truck, and in the RV. While one can cover things like hub caps and truck/RV mirrors, that's not practical on large windows. As Someday mentioned, realistic owl decoys work well. At the advice of my wife's Native American neighbor in Tennessee, she went to the nearest Dollar Store (where else in Tennessee?...) and got rubber snakes to tack to each side of the cabin. No more Woody Woodpecker. I read within the last few days that the owl decoys with the most realistic eyes work the best.
Rob
vannchan said
09:30 PM Jan 4, 2018
bjoyce wrote:
Oh that is funny getting the asterisks. Maybe I should have said peafowl?
Yes, that is quite funny. I am glad you clarified it, though, because I could not come up with anything that made sense to replace them.
kb0zke said
04:45 PM Jan 8, 2018
I think there is a reason for the expression "bird brain." We had a small bird that seemed to enjoy the mirrors and windshield wipers for several hours each day. Our cat enjoyed the little bird right outside the glass. Bird didn't seem to mind the cat watching.
On second thought, maybe the birds aren't so dumb after all. The little bird had to know the cat was there, and yet it felt perfectly safe with that thick windshield between it and the cat.
deewelch said
07:41 PM Jan 15, 2018
Barb and Frank wrote:
We are enjoying our first winter as full timers in Florida. We are primarily staying at state parks - moving every two weeks. We discovered that birds seem to love our rig. At the last state park (Myakka), we had a kamikaze cardinal that flew into our windows starting at the crack of dawn. It wasn’t once or twice - he constantly flew into the rear and side windows all morning - every day. He would fly into and bounce off the window and then return for another strike. My husband eventually tied a wind-sock to the rear ladder - which helped, but did not solve the problem. My husband also cut away the tree branch that he was perching on, but the problem continued.
We moved to another park and the same thing is happening again - different bird - possibly a gold finch. I think the bird sees its reflection in the windows of our Landmark, thinks it’s another bird, and tries to chase it away.
Has anyone experienced this? Your thoughts and ideas on how to prevent this are appreciated.
Barb
I think there was something in your RV that attracted the birds. Maybe somebody threw some bird seeds at the top of your roof. Just saying. ; )
yandel said
12:44 AM Jan 17, 2018
That will be a haven for a bird photographer.
LarryW21 said
10:54 AM Jan 21, 2018
“My husband also cut away the tree branch that he was perching on, but the problem continued.“
At a state park? Florida may be different but cut a tree branch at a CA state park and you’ll get a hefty fine. Proven by the video I take.
We are enjoying our first winter as full timers in Florida. We are primarily staying at state parks - moving every two weeks. We discovered that birds seem to love our rig. At the last state park (Myakka), we had a kamikaze cardinal that flew into our windows starting at the crack of dawn. It wasn’t once or twice - he constantly flew into the rear and side windows all morning - every day. He would fly into and bounce off the window and then return for another strike. My husband eventually tied a wind-sock to the rear ladder - which helped, but did not solve the problem. My husband also cut away the tree branch that he was perching on, but the problem continued.
We moved to another park and the same thing is happening again - different bird - possibly a gold finch. I think the bird sees its reflection in the windows of our Landmark, thinks it’s another bird, and tries to chase it away.
Has anyone experienced this? Your thoughts and ideas on how to prevent this are appreciated.
Barb
Happy New Year.
Oh that is funny getting the asterisks. Maybe I should have said peafowl?
Thanks everyone for the feedback - it sounds like we are not alone with our bird problem. It looks like we will have to come up with a plan to cover the windows to keep the birds away.
Stay warm!
Barb
That IS hilarious, Bill!
Barb - we have had this problem in several stix 'n brix, my wife's log cabin in east Tennessee (that one was a woodpecker), with the chrome mirrors on the truck, and in the RV. While one can cover things like hub caps and truck/RV mirrors, that's not practical on large windows. As Someday mentioned, realistic owl decoys work well. At the advice of my wife's Native American neighbor in Tennessee, she went to the nearest Dollar Store (where else in Tennessee?...) and got rubber snakes to tack to each side of the cabin. No more Woody Woodpecker. I read within the last few days that the owl decoys with the most realistic eyes work the best.
Rob
Yes, that is quite funny. I am glad you clarified it, though, because I could not come up with anything that made sense to replace them.
On second thought, maybe the birds aren't so dumb after all. The little bird had to know the cat was there, and yet it felt perfectly safe with that thick windshield between it and the cat.
I think there was something in your RV that attracted the birds. Maybe somebody threw some bird seeds at the top of your roof. Just saying. ; )
At a state park? Florida may be different but cut a tree branch at a CA state park and you’ll get a hefty fine. Proven by the video I take.