Strange Robin Behavior
Apr 21, 2022 11:01:25 #
TV714 wrote:
The male defending his territory seems like the most likely explanation. The only thing that makes me wonder about this particular bird is that one of our windows is at ground level in our back yard. He was sitting on the ground right at the window where he certainly would have seen his reflection. Yet, he wasn't attacking his reflection, but rather flew up a foot or so and hit the window well above what he was seeing. So, who knows?
Or, it could be a female looking checking her makeup.
Apr 21, 2022 12:01:33 #
Apr 21, 2022 13:39:20 #
I had this maddening problem with a robin. It would sit on the Rhododendrons in front of a big window and keep crashing into it repeatedly. It did it with its "talons" and not its head, every time. A bird maven told us that it was seeing its reflection and seeing that as a territorial/mating threat. The problem was solved once we (for other reasons) replaced the bushes with a lower growth.
Apr 21, 2022 16:59:37 #
olddutch
Loc: Beloit, Wisconsin
I had one flying up against my kitchen window last Thursday and I have no clew why.
Apr 23, 2022 15:53:21 #
Male robins, full of mating season testosterone will attack many red objects, including their reflections. They are known to attack red face cloths on a clothes line as well as red robin decoys. They do not attach female robins. Same targets are ignored out of mating season. Nice example of signals used in the animal kingdom and the simplification or generalization to economize on brain power.
Another example is the bird that desires to sit on the largest eggs in the nest and will prefer a basketball to a real egg, even though it falls off the ball.
Animal behavior can be fun!
Bob
Another example is the bird that desires to sit on the largest eggs in the nest and will prefer a basketball to a real egg, even though it falls off the ball.
Animal behavior can be fun!
Bob
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