Remind Me Why This is the State Bird?

Some of you may remember or know from other conversations that my family was blessed with The Cardinal, lovingly dubbed Mr. Stupid.

Mr. Stupid graced us with his appearance last summer when he decided our back door was harboring another cardinal, competition.  He began ramming himself into the door.  He came back daily for a good ramming.  This has continued even periodically through the winter and now daily again since the weather has brightened.  We are all baffled as to how he hasn't scrambled his brains into a smoothie and broken his beak into a million pieces.  We are mostly baffled as to how he is still alive.  And how he managed to find a mate.  We've seen her.  She must not be very bright picking a man like him.

Last year I put newspaper up on our door to block the reflection.  Apparently newspaper looks like cardinal, too.

This year we decided we'd invest in an owl.  Some garden stores call them "garden defense owls" for the fact that they scare silly birds like Mr. Stupid away.  I was all set to go out and buy one today when my dad came up from the basement.

"You know when Bailey barks out back?"
"Yea."  She always barks.  She barks at everything, anything, and nothing.  She's a mouthy little dachshund who always has to have the last word.
"She's barking at the neighbor's owl."

Plan B, anyone?