Folks (especially many “birders”, as distinct from bird watchers) often have a warm, glowing, anthropomorphic view of birds. Much of it is just plain silliness, based on what people would like to think the natural world is.
Truth is, birds are vicious. Beautiful, yes. “Cute” sometimes. Aggressive. Often selfish. Always territorial. Fight to the death.
Like one of the male robins who has taken over much of our rural property in the Wolf Grove.
He’s discovered a rival who lives in one of our living room windows. For days now, he’s spent most of the daylight hours fighting that rival. Trying to drive him off, or worse.
The rival, of course, is his own reflection. (No one ever said male robins with surging hormones were smart.)
Out of concern for his well being, I’ve taped a white kitchen towel over the inside of the particular window frame where his enemy lives. That seems to have reduced the reflectance factor enough so the bird has decided he’s won the battle.
He came back a few times after I put up the towel. Fluttered about a bit – “where are you now, you so-and-so?”
He seems now to have gone about his other duties of driving competitors away.