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Produce => Wildlife forum => Topic started by: Digeroo on March 14, 2017, 16:21:16
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There it is again tap tap tappity tap on the window above the sink. It has been doing it for some weeks now. We seem to have got ourselves a new friend. They appeared a few years ago, and normally arrived in a cluster of various birds and flitted through the branches of the trees.
But now one has adopted us. It perches on the washing line in a spot up to now reserved for the robin. It sits on my wing mirror, it hanging upsidedown on the patio door.
And there it is again, tap tap tap on the window.
I had never seen one up close before, the buff coloured feathers are almost pink. And it is so tiny.
Now on the whirly washing line, and now tap tap tap again.
Forgot to say its a long tailed tit.
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We experienced similar behaviour from a blue tit tapping at an upstairs window a couple of years ago. It seemed inexplicable. It carried on showing much the same behaviour regardless of blinds and curtains being open or closed, and the tapping was quite forceful. At times it became almost frantic. It continued from early spring for a couple of months.
Now do I have an explanation? Well possibly. After some research it seemed possible the bird was able to see its own reflection in the window. It could often be seen perched high in a nearby crab apple tree at about the same height as the window. Thinking that the reflection was a rival bird in its territory, it was an act of aggression designed to scare away the rival. We later saw a pair of blue tits using one of our nesting boxes.
Now this is only my humble opinion but it seems possible you have a breeding pair of these birds in your vicinity and the male is not just saying hello but trying to say "get lost" to what it takes to be a rival male.
Cheers
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Actually that makes sense. I think there is a pair of them. I certainly had been tapping on the wing mirror of the car as well. We had blue tit who did this too and in the end I started covering up the mirror.
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Love long tails, such sweet birds.
I get sparrows and blue tits on the greenhouse frame, I wonder if they are after spiders.
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Hi Ya, I think the birds see their reflections and think theres a mate. They may also be seeing what they think are bugs they can eat. Sadly I have seen the odd occurrence where they have flown into a window as the reflection looks like the garden and more room. I have put a couple of bird silhouettes on the window to try and prevent this now. They are lovely little birds
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I had a chaffinch which was in love with itself in the car wing mirror it kept looking at itself. Beersmiths explanation seems right for the tit because the tapping is aggressive. I thought of insects but I cannot see any. It is an attack.
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We eventually had to cover our car wing mirrors with carrier bags to stop a poor little blue tit doing this .
It's funny you should mention the Long Tail Tits coming in so close , I occasionally would see these delightful birds in small flocks/charms in the hedgerows around here .. ... but now I am seeing them come to my bird feeding station in front of my kitchen window ! :coffee2: Debbie