April 24th, 2026Hepburn Wildlife Shelter

Birds and windows

Autumn in Daylesford is visually stunning. Where I live, the view is not the brilliant hues of the autumn leaves, but a bush scene with a magnificent manna gum, strikingly white after the natural shedding of the outer bark layer over summer.
The yellow box and grey box are looking refreshed after the recent rains and young wattles are producing vibrant new shoots in different shades of green.

The view I see from my window is the mirror image of the view the birds in the forest see when looking at my windows. This is why birds will fly, full on, into windows. They don’t see glass, it is invisible to them, but they certainly feel its hard surface.
Birds can sustain life-threatening injuries from flying into our windows. The degree of injury depends on physiological factors that are specific to different bird species.
Longer-billed birds can sustain damage to the brain stem, bigger birds will have more momentum and will hit the window harder than a smaller bird. An example of this is the image an owl left on a window it flew into with such force it left a full body image from the finer feathers, pictured. Small birds such as the honeyeaters and wrens have finer bones that can break when flying into a window.
Jon Rowdon from the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter says that common injuries are concussion and bruising on the brain. These injuries make it hard for a bird to perch on a branch or even look for food. Consequently, the bird will more easily be prey for other animals.
It can take a bird weeks to recover from these injuries and they must be kept quiet, calm and monitored regularly. So, if you see a bird that has been stunned or injured from flying into a window, phone the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter on 0409 380 327 or Wildlife Victoria on 8400 7300.
We can make our windows visible to birds by putting patterns onto them; there are many products available for this purpose, but mainly the aim is to make the windows less transparent so that they won’t be reflecting an image of nature back to the birdlife.
Some ideas from Birdlife Australia include putting patterns on your windows using soap or clay and moving bird feeders and baths away from windows.

Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita writes monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org

Image: Sandy Scheltema