Territorial instincts at the office window
He’s baaaack!
Every spring and summer for the last three years a male cardinal has been throwing himself against my office window – for weeks or in some cases months at a time. Apparently some male birds mistake their reflection for a rival and can spend inordinate amounts of time trying to drive the other guy away. The first spring was the worst; this particular male never settled down with a mate so he was at my window from May until October. We tried every solution we could find to dissuade him, but nothing works with this particular bird. In the last two years he has found a mate so the window pounding only lasts a month or so. This year he was around in May then went away – much to my relief. To my horror he came back last week. I guess the first cardinal fledglings are off on their own and he’s got some time on his hands (wings?). I’m hoping his mate will lay another clutch of eggs and keep him busy for the next couple of months.
Denise Vaillancourt is vp of finance at the Forest Society.