would a bird ornament scare off other birds?

Ant555

Does anyone know if a bird silhouette garden ornament similar to this item https://www.metalbird.co.uk/collections/new-birds/products/robin-1 will keep other birds from the garden?  I just like the idea of the product as an ornament and im not looking to scare anything away.

Im thinking of getting one for someone but they enjoy inviting birds into their garden with bird feeders.

Thanks

Ebe_Scrooge

Interesting question.  I'm no expert, but my view would be that it'll be fine.  I know many office buildings and suchlike have silhouettes of hawks on the windows, to prevent birds from flying into the window and hurting themselves.  As well as letting the birds "see" the glass, it's said that they recognise the hawk as a predator and are scared off.  Going by that theory, it seems logical that they'd recognise the silhouette of a robin and not see it as a threat.

Maybe I'm being too anthropomorphic - like I say, I'm no expert on bird psychology :-)

Section62

Ant555 said:

...will keep other birds from the garden?  I just like the idea of the product as an ornament and im not looking to scare anything away.

Im thinking of getting one for someone but they enjoy inviting birds into their garden with bird feeders.

It isn't a predator species, and isn't designed to move around, so it isn't likely to scare other birds. (worms and insects perhaps)

However, Robins are very territorial, so if your friend/relation already has a Robin living in the garden it may get very upset with a lifelike intruder.  It will probably get the idea that the ornament isn't a 'real' bird fairly quickly, but that might not be a risk your friend/relation would want to take (I've had wild Robins happy to feed from my hand in the past and wouldn't want to have done anything that might scare or stress them).

MarvinDay

Even though it's not a predator, it may still scare off other birds simply because of its size (14cm by 12cm) and probably wouldn't be recognised as a robin by wild birds.

However, even if this is the case, they shouldn't be scared off for too long as providing you don't keep moving it around, they will soon get used to it.
I used to have a large plastic hawk which kept pigeons off my solar panels but the deterrent factor only lasted a couple of weeks and after this they totally ignored it.

stuart45

I had a large plastic owl to keep the birds off my new putty on the windows, but it only worked for a couple of days.

Belenus

We have a fierce looking metal heron in our garden.

The Robins perch on its beak and it doesn't discourage many different birds from using the bird bath near it.

Ant555

Thanks for all the replies, I hadnt realised the size of the Robin itself and I now think its probably too large.  I may search for something similar but a bit more discreet but thanks to all for the input.

Rosa_Damascena

Birds aren't as "bird-brained" as they might seem (judging by the morbidly obese seagull population local to me).

But £40 on an ornament, really? 

twopenny

Two eyes that move will scare off birds, even seagulls (pigeons a little longer).

But the giant one eye robin no.

Nice looking though. Just a little large.