It was 1:30 A.M. on a moonless night and just 12 degrees out. I was getting ready for bed when suddenly there was a loud bang on my window screen.
The dog and I went on high alert. What was that? Then it happened again—and again.
I grabbed my glasses and dashed to the window.
And there was a dark-eyed junco hammering on the screen.
At first, I thought maybe its nails were caught in the screen, but it hopped from place to place.
Minutes before, when I’d taken the dog out, a bird had flown wildly through the yard. Was this bird at my window the same one whose sleep we had disturbed? And why was it banging on my window? Was it angry? Confused? Trying to assert its dominance? Was this a common behavior?
I’ve seen birds attack their reflection during mating season, but not in midwinter in the middle of the night with no outside light to create a reflection.
The next day, I started looking for answers. After fruitlessly contacting a series of birders, I finally found someone on the internet who looked to have exactly the right credentials to answer my questions.
Dr. Ellen Ketterson at Indiana University. She studies the behavior of…dark-eyed juncos.
Unfortunately, even she could not explain this junco, but she did say “I have never seen a junco do that.”
So, while I don’t know exactly why the junco was beating on my window, I do know that I got to witness an oddity of nature that is not commonly observed and that is thrilling enough for me.
