That Sickening Thud
My wife and I were just finishing dinner last night when we heard it. There really wasn’t any commotion in the backyard. Just the regular robin flock visit. They do this every night just before dark. All of a sudden-THUD! It really didn’t sound very close but it did seem loud. I’d had mourning doves pecking away at my patio that had been scared by a visiting hawk. They may barely contact our back door or window trying to get away and I’ve never seen one disabled or dead. All I can say is this one did not sound like a bird hitting a window. We went back about our business until I took out my dog an hour or so later. And then I saw it.
Lying there just beneath the kitchen window was one of this year’s robins. It still had quite a bit of speckling on its breast. It was lying there like it was sleeping. Thank God I didn’t have to watch it die. It’s bad enough for us that it did but it would tear me up to go out there and see it struggling.
By all indications its end came quickly. There was one small drop of blood by its beak and its feathers were still nicely preened like it didn’t thrash around before it died. Again, I can’t be more thankful for this.
It Still Cuts Me Deep
Call me a softy. I understand the cycle of life and death. I’m still disturbed when anything man builds or does contributes to a creature’s death. This is no exception. How lucky we’ve been in the seven plus years we’ve been feeding birds is little consolation. This little one is dead and I can’t change that. That still bothers me.
How Have We Been Blessed?
There is a combination of preparation and divine intervention at work here. My feeders, water and nest boxes are a good distance from the house. I rarely feed on my patio because I know a hawk shares this neighborhood. Our windows all have blinds that are always dropped over the window space. We just open and close them. Any bird looking at our windows should not think it goes anywhere. This little one just wasn’t watching what it was doing and decided it found a small escape route to our front yard.
Please join us in wishing him or her smoother flight in heaven.
Editor’s Note
Please let me know if you’ve had success with one window strike prevention tactic or another. I’m sure all of us would like to see less of this waste. Jeff
I am really sorry to hear about your poor little robin. That would get me teary too!
I also have a lot of feeders, etc. around my yard. I’ve never had a real problem with birds hitting the windows. The only bird death I’ve had was when a little sparrow drowned in a bucket I use to collect rainwater for my plants. I felt really bad about it. He probably went there to drink b/c I hadn’t filled the bird bath in a few days.
In any case, I have enjoyed taking a look at your feeders and such. Happy birding!
Thanks for stopping by! I love your blog. I need to get a lot more pictures up like you have.
I think the rain bucket incident was about as likely as my window strike so we’re on equal footing so far.
I got spam comments like this but how do I subscribe to your feed? I only see the friend connect which I don’t use.