The Soap Hack That Keeps Birds From Flying Into Your Windows

We've all accidentally walked into a glass door before, but other than an embarrassing "thunk", most humans who bump into glass are okay. Birds, on the other hand, are more fragile. While it's not always deadly for them, it can be — a 2014 study reported that "between 365 and 988 million birds (median = 599 million) are killed annually by building collisions in the U.S., with roughly 56% of mortality at low-rises, [and] 44% at residences," (via Ornithological Applications). Unfortunately, the true death toll may actually be even higher. In good news, there's a way to prevent birds from flying into your windows that's as easy as it is helpful: drawing on the windows with soap.

This simple bird safety trick only requires a dry bar of soap, which you likely already have in the house. Use your soap to draw patterns on the outside surface of your window — you can draw dots, slashes, squiggles, or any creative design you want, as long as you're not leaving gaps bigger than 2 inches between markings. You'll need to reapply the soap after heavy rains or window cleanings, though this is certainly a reason for bird lovers to clean their windows less often. If you don't feel like it's feasible to soap your windows year-round, focus on doing it during migration seasons, from March 1 to June 15 in the spring and from August 15 to November 30 in the fall.

When birds fly into your window, it's not because they're so into your home decor that they simply must try to get inside and see it for themselves— they can't see glass well. While humans can look at a window frame and other visual cues to alert them to the presence of even the clearest glass, birds just see reflections as literal objects. If there's a nice-looking tree reflected in the glass, their attempt to reach that tree may result in hitting your window. This is why the soap markings need to be less than 2 inches apart; designs that are too small will just register as an obstacle they need to maneuver around. It's important to create the appearance of a barrier they couldn't possibly fly through. That's also the principle behind why some bird lovers put aluminum foil on their windows.

Putting soap on the outside surface of the window makes this as easily visible as possible, but what if you need to bird-proof a window you can't reach from the outside? While it may be less effective, drawing something on the inside of your window is still better than nothing. To test if your inside soap drawing will deter birds, you can try looking at it from the outside every couple of hours, beginning in the early morning. If you can see the soap most of the time, it should be effective enough for your feathered friends.