Q. I'm at wit's end over a red northern cardinal that will not stop attacking my windows. He's been going at it since March, starting at 6 a.m. and continuing all day until sunset.

He launches himself from a nearby branch and hits the window hard. He does this repeatedly, and the sound is awful! I've tried everything to get him to stop, and I put special decal strips on the windows specifically made to stop cardinals from doing this. It didn't.

Please, please help! It's really driving me crazy!

-- C.M., Palmetto Bay

A. We contacted Bill Kern, associate professor of Entomology & Nematology at the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center.

He said this is normal territorial behavior for the male cardinal. He said he has seen them attack their reflection in car windows, side mirrors, and even chrome hub caps. Tinted windows give back an especially good reflection.

The secret, he said, is to decrease the reflection; a good reason to not wash the outside surface of windows in the summer.

"This bird will continue attacking its reflection until the end of the breeding season, about August,'' he said.

"A white curtain liner will reflect more of the light that penetrates the window and reduce the reflective effect of the glass surface."

He said you can also coat the glass with a translucent material like car wax or soap.

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