Thump! A bluejay flew into my window and knocked itself out for a bit.

First I saw the bluejay laying on its back, with very slight, occasional twitches with one of its feet.

By the time I grabbed my phone/camera and went outside to check on it, it flipped itself back onto its feet.





This one is taken from inside the house, through the window the bluejay flew into:

Happens at our house, too. Window strikes kill a lot of birds.

I've tried putting bird decals on the windows that reflect trees/bushes and that fool the birds into thinking they are landing on a branch.

I haven't tried these suggestions yet. Might be worth a look.

https://abcbirds.org/get-involved/bird-smart-glass/

It only happens rarely at my place. Maybe it's because all my windows have grills, that makes it less likely for birds to think that the windows are wide open.

We have a couple of double hung windows with screens on the exterior and there is no problem with those.

Unfortunately, we mostly have casement windows so the screens are on the inside and the glass is on the outside. With the UV coating, the windows act almost like a mirror to reflect nearby shrubs and trees. We hear a fair number of *thumps* and have had a few fatalities.

Poor thing.

I heard they see their reflection and think they are going after their rivals.

Never has happened here.

And I put out no birdfeeders as my property attracts them naturally.

Hope he has recovered...

Birds' brains swell quickly and have 'no room' to expand, thus they are stunned. But they have a good chance for reducing the swelling and recovery if you pick them up with towel/gloves and place them in a cardboard box on a towel (with cover and holes for air) and leave them alone in a quiet dark spot--for up to 2 hours. As prey animals, birds are highly stressed when exposed so this allows them to calm down and also remain safe while recovering. After 1-2 hours take the box outside near trees and open in the direction of the trees (away from you). With luck they will fly away safely to the tress. Nine times out ten this works for me over the years. I have a rescue box prepared at home and also one in my car for when I see one stunned on the road side. Every little bit helps!

Very good advice. You're a nature warrior!

I used to work in downtown Chicago and would occasionally find an injured bird on the sidewalk. More than one lunch walk was interrupted when I carried a bird back to the office, found empty boxes, and fashioned a way to bring it home. Sometimes I could release them but sometimes they had to go to the bird rehab center in my area.

Thanks, @AMDQMom.
I did not know what to do with the stunted bird and would have had to Google for advise had the bird didn't just flipped back upright on its own by the time I went outside. Now with your post, I know how to handle it should it happen again. Thanks!

You're welcome! My pleasure. Mother Nature is tough enough; whenever I can mitigate the impact of manmade dangers on wildlife, I try!

That's really good to know. Thank you!

Sad to say, I found a dead bird in my garden just yesterday. We're home 24/7 these days and I never heard a crash at the window, so it might have died from something else, but it could also have flown into a neighbors window. It was very sad. I buried it in the back yard with a landscaping stone over the grave to keep away animals.

On a lighter note, my church in Florida had huge windows looking out into a wooded area. A male woodpecker decided a certain window high on the wall behind the pulpit was his and he didn't like looking through it and seeing us, or maybe he didn't enjoy hearing the sermon. He would stand on the sill and dance. I'm not sure what a mating display looks like for a woodpecker, but possibly that's what he was doing. There was certainly a lot of flapping and displaying.

Every week.

We were all worried that he would eventually hurt himself. And also, there was a lot of snickering going on throughout the sermon. Every week. We put owl stickers on the window. We put a fake snake on the windowsill. We put a fake alligator below. He was undeterred.

Eventually, the church installed screening on just that one, high, out-of-the-way window and our little friend stopped dancing out there every week. We missed him, but at least he stayed alive.

I should add for the sake of throughness, you should release the previously-stunned bird where you found it or, as close to location as possible. This is because individual adult birds have a territory and in spring may be setting up a nest, brooding, or feeding young.
Also, if the bird does not fly away after sequestering, but still alive, you can take to local wildlife rehab. They can administer fluids and meds for reducing swelling, and if successful, they will release where you found the bird (or ask you to come pick it up and release it yourself in that location).

Be a good idea to report a dead bird if you dont know cause. They are a host for West Nile virus so county health should be interested.