Northern Cardinal flying up against a window
When I came down for breakfast this am there was a female cardinal pecking at the glass window to the south. My movements in the kitchen scared her off, but she has been back several times over the course of several hours still pecking at the window. Not sure what might be causing this behaviour – we have a feeder out back that has seed in it – the cardinals have been visiting it all winter. Sherry Hambly
This is a case of the female trying to displace a perceived intruder into her territory. This behaviour is probably only uncommon, but typically involves the males of the species. Individuals with this behavioural trait are often extremely persistent, devoting hour after hour to an exhausting battle with their reflections. I once had a male American Robin that spent long stretches, day after day, vigorously battling his reflection in the window to the point of exhaustion and injury. I covered the window with vinyl screening and this seemed to help, but the following year it or another male robin was back battling its reflection. A friend told me of a male Brown-headed Cowbird that battled its reflection in the side-view mirror of his car. This was at his cottage and this behaviour went on for several successive weekends, beginning shortly after his arrival each Friday evening. Ultimately he was forced to tie plastic shopping bags over his side-view mirrors to keep them from being coated inexcrement and feathers. Don Sutherland
Brown-headed Cowbird checking out its reflection in car mirror and window – Drew Monkman
We had a male cardinal come to our window every morning for 8 months– Sept to April – a number of years ago in Toronto. Same behaviour. Ian Sturdee
I have a female cardinal that is regularly attacking the passenger side rear mirror on my car, presumably for the same reason. How she first saw her reflection there boggles the mind. Tony Bigg
Eastern Bluebird on mirror it had been attacking – Drew Monkman
I once saw Eastern Bluebirds attacking the side view mirror of a car. In this case, it was a pair of bluebirds working in tandem. Somehow, I don’t think they succeeded in scaring the “intruder” away! Drew Monkman
