Cardinal and woodpeckers breaking mirrors

[Anonymous]

I have had a couple of people ask me about this behaviour,,one person said that a pileated woodpecker is breaking the mirrors on cars and another asked me a similar question about a male cardinal attacking mirrors on cars and house windows. I thought it may be attributed to mating season and they are being territorial. Has anyone heard of this and is there a solution to this problem?
Thanks
Art

[Leslie Kinrys]

You are correct. The male birds thinks they are seeing rivals in the mirrors/glass and are attacking them. People could cover the car mirrors with a piece of cloth. For a windows, it is a little trickier. Since people can't always cover a window, maybe adding some decals to break up the reflections could help.

[silverfoxx]

Several times last year I watched a cardinal that perched on the side mirror of my neighbors car and attempted to peck at the mirror. It was however a female cardinal - so I guess both sexes can ward off competitors. I also suspect that the car was very close to the birds nest.

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for your replies.
Art