birdsoup

Last spring I wondered “Do birds commit suicide?” as I watched and heard a robin fling itself into my dining room window.  It made a distinctive thud as it bounced off the glass pane.  Then it backed off a few feet and attacked again, hurling itself into the window with a vengeance.  Over and over. 

Obviously something was wrong with this usually cheerful little bird.  When I walked to the window for a closer look, it flew to an apple tree 20 feet away.  It looked OK.  But when I walked away from the window into the kitchen, the robin again crashed into the window at top speed.  I returned to the window, it backed away.  I walked away, it re-launched its kamikaze attack.  This pattern kept up for about 15 minutes.  Then stopped.

Very strange behavior.  This bird seemed intent on inflicting bodily damage.  I remember thinking that it might need mental health assistance.  But I soon forgot the incident.  Until the next day. 

The crazed robin returned, again flinging itself into the glass.  I rushed to the window.  It backed off.  I left.  It returned.  We kept up this dance until it finally stopped trying. 

On the third day, the odd behavior began anew.  Thud, into the window.  But this day I didn’t forget it.  Something was definitely going on here.  Why was it attacking my window?  Three days in a row.  At the same time every day.  At the same place in the window.  I tried to figure it out.

And I did. 

The sun was in just the right location in the sky so the robin was seeing its own reflection in the window glass.  He thought the reflection was another robin intruding on his territory and was trying to drive this intruder away. 

That shows how strong the instinct is to defend a territory.  But is also shows how instinct can overrule common sense.  I would expect that the robin would realize that the pane of glass was much harder than the feathers of a competing male robin.  It would have saved a lot of energy.