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Mirror is confusing the Blue Tits

Valerie 7Valerie 7 Posts: 59
in The potting shed
I have recently hung a mirror on the fence and it seems to be totally confusing the local Blue Tits. They land on the cross bars and hop up and down it giving the impression that they are trying to find a way through, they also land on the fence below to see if there is a way to get behind it. I know that there will be some insects that they could be gathering but that is not what they appear to be doing at all.
My concern is that they are going to exhaust themselves when they should be putting all their energy into nest building, and just wonder if anyone else has noticed birds acting in this way and whether they eventually get used to the mirror and start to ignore it.
Thanks, Valerie
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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    The mirror is giving the birds the impression there is a rival in the garden near to their chosen nest site.  They will not get used to it.  They will keep trying to defend 'their patch' and see the rival off.  As you say, this is a waste of their precious energy at a vital time ... I would remove the mirror

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I agree, if you can remove it temporarily, l would do that.
  • WonkyWombleWonkyWomble Posts: 4,541
    Many birds die from flying into mirrors trying to get into the garden in the reflection 😔
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I would never have one. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    A carefully placed mirror is fine but I would remove yours.
     A lot of birds are killed by flying into patio doors.
    Last year we had a jackdaw that every morning very early flew into a different window each day with a bang that woke me up and you could see its open wing outline not just on my windows but on several across the road.
    In a previous house a sparrow fought it's reflection daily in a small kitchen window. We tried to cover the window inside to stop a reflection but in vain, it eventually stopped after several days and never happened again.
    No sign of the jackdaw this year thankfully.
  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    Please remove it........
  • SuesynSuesyn Posts: 664
    I had a mirror on the back fence but the birds were 'fighting" it all the time and so I took it down.
    We also have had birds fly into the conservatory windows, we found a young blackbird with a broken neck last week, but I don't think there's much we can do about that. Funnily enough they don't fly into the greenhouse glass although they do often go in there and then can't find their way out. 
  • Valerie 7Valerie 7 Posts: 59
    Thanks for the advice, I'll take it down today and put it back up after the nesting season has finished and see what happens then. Fortunately the birds are not flying at it at any speed just hopping over from a tree.
    It hadn't even occurred to me that this might be a problem.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Yes, l am regretting my use of the word "temporarily" if l'm honest. I remember a young blackbird flying into our patio doors a few years ago. I watched as the light went out of it's eyes and l've never forgotten the sight.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    We have birds of prey stickers on our big studio windows ... they have cut down on the bird deaths ... in the past we have found the bodies of blackbirds, a rare (migrating?) jack snipe, a song thrush and a waxwing on the terrace by the studio window ... as well as the usual collisions by wood pigeons who usually walk off in a dazed fashion and collect their thoughts under a shrub before going about their business.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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