Love-sick birds have been plaguing a village by pecking and cracking car wing mirrors in the mistaken belief that their reflection is a potential mate.
The situation has become so bad that motorists in Withycombe’s main street have taken to making special mittens to protect their mirrors from the onslaughts.
The culprits have been identified as a flock of grey wagtails that live beside the local stream in the West Somerset village.
“It all started about two years ago,” said villager Marion Badcock. “We’ve all had to make the special covers in this part of the village near the ford.
“If there’s two they don’t seem to bother but the single birds go mad pecking at themselves in the mirror.”
She said the wagtails are obsessed by their self-image all year round, but it is “particularly bad now”.
“It’s actually very funny to watch them,” she said. “They’ll look at themselves in your wing mirror, then do their business all over it, then fly on to the window ledge of the house to have a go at the glass. It’s as if they are saying ‘look what we’ve done’.”
Peter Exley, of the RSPB in the South West, explained: “Birds in general will do this at this time of year.
“It’s all down to hormones. They get very territorial – if they see a reflection in a mirror they see it as an adversary.
“The bird says ‘I’m going to see off that intruder in my area’ and then they get very agitated – so much so they can make an unfortunate mess.”
He added that mirror attacks are not good for the birds’ stress levels: “Most of these birds don’t pair for life and there’s a whole load of strategies for finding a mate.
“And if you’ve got cars parked near a river where grey wagtails are nesting – there’s only going to be one result.”
Article courtesy of the Telegraph. Photograph: Grey Wagtail bird sits on a covered up car wing mirror RICHARD AUSTIN IMAGES