Old Weather Forum

A thump on the window, if you’re around to hear it. A dead songbird below. Many people seek to prevent this sorrowful scenario by warning birds away with decals or film applied to windows of homes and office buildings. But there’s a big catch, a new study suggests: These products only work if affixed to the outside of the glass.
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Well-intentioned consumers can fall into other ineffective approaches, for example sticking one or two bird-of-prey silhouettes to a window, even on the outside. Birds don’t recognize the shapes as predators, experts say, and might simply try to fly around them, hitting another part of the glass. The American Bird Conservancy, a nonprofit group, has reviewed about 200 window materials and treatments for bird safety, mostly types of glass for new construction but also films, decals and others.

Bug zappers kill bugs by the thousands. But there’s a problem: They kill the wrong ones.

While they may help to clear your air of flying pests, bug zappers’ indiscriminate slaughter can disrupt pollination (think of the bees!) and generally throw the environment out of balance. Plus, the force of their electrocution can spew a mist of bug parts out into the air.