A Robin At The Window

When I first heard the bird tap on my living room window I thought he had flown against it by accident, although it was hard to fathom how he could not see the glass, dirtied by winter. When he kept flying against the pane I went over and waved, trying to scare him away, fearing he’d get hurt.

He flew to the ground below the window and looked at me.

I turned and went back to the kitchen and the young robin started his assault on my window once more, flying toward the glass and tapping it with his feet. “Maybe he’s hungry,” suggested my four year old daughter, who watched the bird with incredulity.

I thought he might have seen a reflection in the glass that was attracting him. After a few minutes he disappeared. Then I heard him at the bathroom window. He sat on the window sill looking in.

We had a nest under our deck last spring and I wondered if he was looking for his old home.

He hung around the house for about two hours last Thursday, dancing in front of the windows in the living room, office and bathroom, even sitting in front of my door, looking in. I am sure if I had opened up the window he would have flown right in.

He has shown up again every day since, sitting on the bushes at the front of the house, the balcony of the deck and on the windowsills, looking in and occasionally flapping against the glass.

There is an old wives tale that says a bird in your house is a harbinger of death – I hope this robin’s dance is just a case of spring fever.