Owning a wood-framed house in Upstate New York, I expected to deal with snow and the occasional deer—not birds attacking or flying into my home. But last fall, after hearing a woodpecker drill its beak relentlessly into the siding every morning for days, then watching two finches crash into a living-room window one sunny afternoon (and later, finding a dead one on the deck), I knew I needed a bird deterrent strategy.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of off-the-shelf solutions, from window decals to sparkly decoys. And demand is growing fast: a Fortune Business report valued bird deterrents as a $315.2 million industry in 2019 and expects it to hit $517.43 million by 2032.
That said, some solutions definitely work better than others and finding the best bird deterrents can require a lot of trial and error.
The Woodpecker War
Woodpeckers peck for four reasons: to find food, claim territory, attract a mate, or store food—none of which is good when your house is the target. Deterring them is key.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes that siding type can play a role: grooved plywood is more susceptible to damage, and houses stained in earth tones—like mine—are more likely to be targeted than brightly painted ones.
Since repainting or restaining wasn’t a viable solution, I started with simpler deterrents. First up: a bird feeder, placed a few feet away from the woodpecker’s chosen spot to offer a tasty alternative. Zero interest. Then, my husband and I dutifully filled in siding holes with wood filler. Also no dice. The bird kept at it—and even expanded its area of interest.
Cornell also recommended trying predator decoys, audio sounds, and reflective deterrents. Affixing a plastic owl to the house and having to move it around so the woodpecker wouldn’t get used to it seemed wildly impractical. Plus, the spot was so high up we’d need to haul out our 16-foot extension ladder every time. As for the sound-deterrents, I really didn’t want to be forced to listen to bird distress calls unless it was a last resort. (Also: I have a dog.)
Instead, encouraged by Cornell’s claim that reflective deterrents’ “shiny coating and movement in the wind kept woodpeckers at bay and completely eliminated damage,” I ordered two highly-rated options from Amazon: a single “3D wind spinner” that looked like a decorative wind chime and a cheaper pack of “scare rods” resembling silver icicles, like the kind you’d string from your eaves at the holidays.
My husband and I proceeded to hang them on planter brackets outside the house, placing the sturdier 3D wind spinner directly over the bird’s favorite spot. That one was shredded in under two weeks—reduced to a heap of twisted metal on the ground.
Surprisingly, the flimsier-looking “scare rods” held up. They came in a pack of 10, so we strung two together on every exterior planter hook to extend their length. There, they twist and flicker all day, scattering light. While I don’t love the festooned look, especially out of festive season, the woodpecker hasn’t been back since.
Reflections Can Be Deadly
With that project handled, I turned to the next problem: our windows.
Glass is a major hazard for migrating birds, which don’t see it as a barrier but as a gateway to an additional habitat they think they can reach. The American Bird Conservancy estimates that window collisions kill up to one billion birds a year in the United States alone.
The city of Chicago is known as one of the country’s top spots for bird deaths every year. The pros at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo recommend five strategies to help birds fly safely during migration—from turning off lights at night (when many species migrate) to keeping blinds or curtains 75 percent closed, to using soap or stickers to cover large panes of reflective glass.
The cheapest but least-attractive solution—drawing patterns on the outside of the glass with soap—is a temporary fix at best, unless you live someplace where it never rains. But adding blinds or curtains to our 12-foot-high living room windows would require custom sizes at a steep cost. (That said, birds never crash into the house windows that do have blinds, which I now keep pulled down at all times, with the slats open at an angle by day to let in light. That seems to be working.)
A Fix That Works at Any Scale
Then I found a striking case study: In 2024, Chicago’s McCormick Place Lakeside Center saw nearly 1,000 birds die in a single day due to window collisions. A year later, fall migration deaths had plummeted by 95 percent—from 1,280 to just 18—after bird-safe film was applied to the building’s glass surfaces. If that kind of success was possible on a building covered in glass, surely I could apply a similar solution to my own home.
McCormick Place used Feather Friendly’s large-scale Pro window markers, a series of white dots, applied in adhesive strips, designed to break up reflections without making the glass look frosted or opaque. L.L. Bean recently installed the same product on the windows of their Freeport, ME, headquarters.
For DIYers, Feather Friendly offers three solution sizes, depending on the surface area that needs coverage. The smallest is suitable for 16 square feet (or a 4×4 window); the largest (Pro) is the go-to for 150 square feet or more. They’re available in two colors: white—recommended for reflective and combination glass, where they stand out against green and brown habitat tones—and black for “fly-through” glass, where birds see sky on the other side. (If your window matches both conditions, they recommend treating it like reflective glass and using white.)
Another reputable option is CollidEscape window film. Unlike dot patterns, this adhesive treatment creates a solid, opaque appearance from the outside but allows clear views from the inside. Besides preventing collisions, it also reduces glare and cooling costs—a major bonus for sun-exposed rooms (which ours also happens to be).
Now the choice is between subtle dots or a full-coverage film, both proven to work. Either way, the days of birds mistaking my windows for open sky are numbered.
The Best Bird Deterrents Worth Buying
Dalen Owl Decoy
Now 30% Off
Minwax Natural Stainable Wood Filler
Feather Friendly Black Markers
CollidEscape Reflective Window Film
Arabella Bowen is a freelance writer and seasoned product tester who specializes in travel, design, tech, home improvement, and outdoor essentials. She’s reviewed everything from roller bags and cameras to hiking equipment and home decor for outlets such as The Montreal Gazette, Fodor’s, AFAR, and US Park Pass. When she’s not writing or co-running SoloTrvlr.com, Arabella can be found immersed in DIY projects at her mid-century modern house in upstate New York—a hands-on pursuit that inspires many trips to Lowe’s.
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