The Bird Is the Word

Two days ago, while sitting at my computer and looking out the bay window in the living room, I noticed a robin fluttering around the passenger side window and side-view mirror of my car.  Cute, I thought.  I've heard of birds taking issue with their own reflections.  He'll give up in a bit, I thought.
That's where I was wrong.  He didn't give up, but he did change sides of the car.  On the driver's side, in my direct eyesight, he was fluttering at the window, then standing on top of the side-view mirror, over and over and over again.  He would then advance to the hood of the car and peck at the windshield, then go back to the side door.  This went on all day.

The next day, he was still at it.  (I actually think it might have been a "she" because the bird was not as brightly colored as male birds tend to be, but I'm calling it "he" because...well...just because.)  Only this time, the "carnage" to my car was obvious.  There was a veritable river of  white/black bird poop on the back side of the black mirror and down the whole door or the silver vehicle.  Ewww....!

By late afternoon, I took the car to a Crew Car Wash here in Plainfield.  It's mostly automated but the attendants do pressure-spray the side of the car before it enters the robot machines.  Cost of the cheapest car wash: $9.  The buggy actually was in need of a bath, so I didn't resent the expenditure too much, except for the fact that I was already down to only a few dollars left in my checking account due to all of the expenses of the month.  (I'm already into my savings by at least $400 this month and didn't want to dig into it more just to clean off bird poop!)  The wash didn't remove all of the bird stuff but did take care of most of it.

When I got home, I put a plastic grocery bag over the driver's side mirror and also stuck one in the window in an effort to keep Mr. Robin away.  It didn't work!  He just went back to the passenger side.  Sooo...I went out and did the same thing to the passenger's side.  Next thing I knew, he was back to the driver's side but had changed locations to the back seat window, and the stream of white "stuff" was just now in a different place on my newly-washed car!

Don't get me wrong.  I love the songbirds--and all of nature, really--but I was just about ready to throttle one highly-persistent robin!  Thereafter, until he found a place to roost at dusk, every time I saw him, I opened the front door and chased him off.  I'm thinking six or seven times.

So far today, I haven't seen him.  (Hate to say it for fear of jinxing myself.)  I'm not sure what his natural instincts are.  Is he a male seeing another male to fight in his reflection?  Is he a male trying to woo what he thinks could be a mate in the window?  Is it a female defending nesting territory with another offending bird too close to a nest?  Wish I knew!  I know that birds are intelligent creatures.  Maybe more intelligent than we humans who are trying to figure them out!

Another car wash is in order.  Hope it can wait a few more days until pension payday.  The robin has all of the big bad wonderful world to be in, and it/he/she targets my car??  Word!