My brother lives in Braidwood, Il. He has been home recovering from major surgery, and has noticed a troublesome Robin. He has patio doors and a deck. Every day, and several times during the day, for two weeks now, a Robin will perch itself on his deck, and look in the patio door. It sits a long while then flys into the glass doors. Or it pecks on the doors. He has closed his blinds so the bird knows it's not a fly through, but the Robin continues to fly into the glass doors, or peck on them. He even hung some plastic garbage bags on the doors so it would stop flying into them. Nothing stops it. Why is it doing this, and what can he do to prevent it from hurting itself?

At this time of year, birds become territorial. The robin is seeing its reflection in the window and is trying to "drive away" the "intruder". This behavior can be irritating for the human occupants, and potentially harmful to the bird as it can severely injure itself by flying into the window.

I'm guessing he tried hanging the garbage bags on the inside. But that won't get rid of the reflection on the outside. Try hanging the garbage bags on the outside of the doors. Or you can use soap to temporarily smear the windows so that the bird cannot see its reflection. Whatever you use, it needs to be on the exterior not the interior of the glass because it's the reflection that's the problem.

Cornell has more info. about this behavior and solutions. Go to the website below and scroll 1/2 way down the page. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1184