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Inexplicable cardinal behavior #890672

Asked December 10, 2024, 10:15 AM EST

For almost 2 weeks now, a male cardinal has been launching himself at the top corner of my dining room window. He usually starts around 7am and goes on for about an hour. He'll sometimes do it in the afternoon as well. I know the conventional wisdom is that he sees his reflection and is being territorial, but that can't be the case here. The window is almost completely shielded by a holly bush, and he launches himself from a good foot and a half below the particular window pane he strikes - it's always at the same place, and he couldn't possibly see his reflection from there. Even if he could, he'd have a better and closer reflection to attack. I've put silhouettes of owls, covered some of the panes with black paper, put out a feeder - nothing makes any difference. I don't worry any more about him hurting himself - I just want him to stop. Any advice would be appreciated. It would be difficult for me to do anything on the outside of the window but I'd hire someone if necessary. I have video. Thank you.

Baltimore County Maryland

Expert Response

Unfortunately the idiosyncrasies of bird behavior like what you're describing are outside of the realm of our expertise, but you can inquire with wildlife biologists at the MD Department of Natural Resources. An email can be sent to <personal data hidden> (especially if you want to share photos; we don't know if they can view videos; Ask Extension's platform can't accept video file attachments). Or, if you would like to speak to someone, they have a Wildlife and Heritage Service phone number at<personal data hidden>. The phone line is staffed during regular business hours, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, except state holidays and weekends.

Miri
Thank you!

On Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 12:24 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied December 10, 2024, 12:45 PM EST

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