Frequently asked bird questions

Wood Thrush

Ever wonder what to do about a woodpecker pecking on your house? Or what you should do if you find a baby bird? Our biologists have compiled some helpful answers to some of the most common questions about birds.

Q: I found an injured/sick bird. What should I do?

Although your initial reaction might be to help the bird, you should exercise extreme caution. If the animal is a bird of prey, its talons are capable of exerting enough pressure to puncture skin and muscle, even through cloth and thin leather. Great care must be exercised when handling raptors and usually this is best left to licensed wildlife handlers and falconers.

All other bird species, even if they’re not birds of prey, should be approached with the same degree of vigilance. If you find an injured or sick bird, the best thing to do is to contact the closest wildlife rehabilitator center before you attempt to help the bird. Remember that permits are required in order to legally handle or keep wild birds.

Visit the NC Wildlife Resources Commission website for a list of wildlife rehabilitators in your area.

There are two wildlife rehab centers in the Triangle area:

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website also offers helpful tips for people who find sick birds at their feeder.

Q: I found a baby bird that must have fallen out of the nest. What should I do?
It is a myth that parent birds will abandon a chick if they smell your scent on it. However, if you touch a chick, your scent will rub off on it, making it easy prey for predators. Perhaps you’ve been told to help a baby bird that has fallen out of its nest by placing it back in the nest, but this is not recommended because the bird may have left the nest on its own accord, or the parent birds may have ejected it because it is time for it to leave, or the chick may be sick and pose a threat to siblings.

Aside from these scenarios, it is actually quite common for chicks to venture from their nest before they are capable of flight. Young birds scramble around low branches of shrubs and trees and may end up hopping on the ground calling plaintively for their parents to feed them. The parents still care for the chick during this time, so be patient and observe the baby bird for a minute or two; you’ll probably see the parents swoop down to feed it.

As a general rule, it’s important to not interfere with any nests or chicks. Remember, all birds are protected by state and federal laws. Any action in which you pick up a bird considered illegal, even if you have good intentions of rescuing it or letting it go elsewhere. However, if a chick is in imminent danger, such as hopping around on the ground while being stalked by a nearby cat, shoo the cat away and try to shuffle the chick off to some nearby shrubbery. If the cat belongs to a neighbor, politely inform its owner of your city’s pet policies, which usually include the requirement that both dogs and cats be leashed at all times while outdoors. If the cat is a stray, contact your local animal control center.

Q: How can I keep birds from flying into my windows?
Sadly, an estimated one hundred million to one billion birds crash into windows every year in North America. These collisions are often fatal and are caused by birds seeing reflections of trees and shrubbery from outside. Fortunately, FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program) has a great website with helpful tips about how to discourage birds away from your windows. Audubon recommends hanging a sun catcher or draperies over windows to reduce reflection. It’s become popular to place silhouettes in windows to ward off birds, but studies have not proven this to be an effective deterrent, especially after birds acclimate to the static image.

If you have bird feeders around your house, place them close to windows instead of far away so that approaching birds are already slowing their speed in order to perch on the feeder. If possible, in advance to the construction of your home or other buildings, design windows that are installed at an angle that is directed downward. The glass won’t reflect the woods and landscape from outside, and the design won’t impede your ability to look out the window. If you’re interested in not only saving birds, but also in reducing your energy bill, you can apply a thin opaque film to the surface of the windows that prevents infrared radiation from coming through the glass. The film is only slightly visible, but its reduction in heat entering your home can dramatically cut cooling costs.

Birds that are defending nesting territory around your home, including bluebirds, cardinals and flycatchers, might also see their reflection on glass and misinterpret the image as another bird invading their territory. Seeing their image prompts some birds to do battle against themselves, banging and flapping against the glass for minutes and even hours on end; much to our dismay. The solution to this is to construct something that takes away the reflective nature of glass, including window screen.

Read more helpful tips about birds and windows in the attached PDF document at the bottom of this page.

Q: What can I do about woodpeckers pecking my house?
Male woodpeckers sometimes pound on a chimney, gutters, window shutters, and any other hard, loud and resonating object on the outside of a home to advertise their territory. Unfortunately, early morning is often the male woodpecker’s favorite time to do this and he’ll select a drumming site based in part on how well the sound carries. This territorial behavior is mostly conducted during courtship and nesting and is a way for the bird to proclaim, “Hey, this is my turf!”

If a woodpecker is causing physical damage to walls and siding it may not be from territorial pronouncements but rather because there are insects in the wood that the woodpecker is trying to extract, including carpenter bees, ants, and termites. Woodpeckers rarely damage wood if they are using it to make a resonating sound.

If a woodpecker is chiseling a building in pursuit of food the remedy is to remove the food source and repair the damage. Once the food is removed the woodpecker will likely not return. If the woodpecker’s activity is territorial you can try spraying a pepper spray on the surface he is hammering. Hanging pie pans and balloons in the area where he is working may also scare away the bird. Nonmoving objects such as scarecrows and silhouettes may work initially, but birds quickly acclimate to their presence.

Q: Where can I learn more about bluebirds?
The North Carolina Bluebird Society has a wonderful website with a wealth of information about bluebird ecology and conservation and how to attract these lovely birds to your property.

Q: What is that bird singing at night? It's driving me crazy!
Male Northern Mockingbirds will sing at night while their mate is sitting on eggs and he usually stops as soon as the eggs hatch. The reason he does this is not fully understood, but it may have to do with pair-bonding and territorial display. The Northern Bobwhite Quail and Eastern Screech Owl may also be heard calling at night but their singing is usually not as persistent or as varied as the mockingbird.

Two other nighttime singers include the Whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow; insect-eating members of the goatsucker family of birds that sing to proclaim territory and maintain pair-bonds with a mate.

Other nightly singers include a host of frogs and toads, along with many kinds of crickets and their kin. While the din some of these animals produce may be annoying, imagine how frustrating our domestic noises are to wildlife; from bustling trucks and cars to raucous outdoor sporting and music events. While this is no consolation, it does underscore the old adage: One animal’s concert is another’s cacophony.

Q: I found a live/dead bird with a band on it. Do I need to report it?
It’s important to report banded birds, but it’s not required by law. If you find a dead bird that has been banded you are allowed to record the number of bands, the color and placement order of each band, and which legs the bands are located upon. Technically it is a violation of Federal law to handle wild birds without proper permits and it is therefore best to report the bird to an authority rather than collecting the animal yourself. There is also a health issue to consider regarding handling dead or sick birds, especially bacteria that may be transmitted to people. There could be exposure risk if the bird died from toxic pesticides.

Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or a wildlife agency.

If you’re unsure of what species you’ve found, consult a field guide such as the Sibley Field Guide to Birds or a reliable online web site such as eBird; which is an enormous online database of bird information. If you see bands on a live bird, try to use a spotting scope or binoculars to figure out the bird’s species and to determine its unique color sequence and location of bands if you intend to voluntarily report it.

To learn more about bird banding in the United States, including where to report band information, visit the Bird Banding Laboratory website.

Q: I think I’ve spotted a rare bird in my yard. How can I be sure it is a rare bird? Should I contact somebody even if I’m not sure?
Look in a field guide such as the Sibley Field Guide to Birds so you can properly identify the species. If you are unable to identify the bird using a field guide, try finding it via eBird; an online bird database. If your online search proves fruitless, experts at your local Audubon office will be happy to help you. If you are able to take a photo of the bird and send it to our staff, that always makes bird identification much easier. You can email a bird photo to Ida Phillips at iphillips@audubon.org and she will forward to the appropriate staff person.

Q: A development is planned for some nearby woods, and I know it’s going to harm the birds. What should I do?
Try to have a friendly, but informative, conversation with the developer about what birds and wildlife might be on the property. Do not trespass even for the sake of birds. It’s important to contact the developer before construction begins. Before construction begins, you might be able to convince the developer to consider minimal and low impact development practices including clearing vegetation on a lot by lot basis, beginning with house and driveway footprint areas only. This process of clearing land is highly selective; it only removes vegetation that’s required for construction; sort of a “first do no harm approach.”

If plans are to extensively develop the land for marketing purposes, you can share statistics with the developer that show how it is more economical to develop in an environmentally friendly way than it is to clear land and later be forced to pay a landscaper to redesign and replant vegetation. Be sure to narrate the natural history of the land to the developer, while providing good ideas for land use practices that will help sustain the natural quality of the land and work with the developer’s corporate goals. Also, don’t underestimate your influence at the city and county levels. Attend city council and county commission meetings to make sure developments are being built in an environmentally sensitive manner. Most Audubon Chapters are involved in efforts to help protect natural resources in their area, and chapter contacts can be found on our website.

Q: I have a question that is not on this list! Can you help?

Check out National Audubon's website section called Audubon at Home, which has lots of helpful information, including:

Also, check out the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's FAQ page.

Related Files:
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windows and birds.pdf