I mentioned this issue to my wife. She told me, "Cedar
Wax Wings and Robins are known to get drunk from
fermented berries." So I stand corrected, in part.
She is going to look into it further to discover if
there are any studies indicating whether or not the
birds deliberately seek the fermented berries or if
the intoxication is caused by accident.

However, sparrows, finches, and other bird species
also crash into windows. They don't eat berries.

best,

JoeZychik
--- gts <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Joe Zychik wrote:
>
> > What might appear as a bird getting drunk and
> flying
> > into a window is more likely the innate problem of
> the
> > bird not being able to disgtinguish between a
> > reflection and an actual landscape while in
> flight.
>
> Except that the birds only seemed to make these poor
> judgments at that time
> of year when the birds were eating the overripened
> berries. As a young kid
> my brother and I used to sit on the porch and laugh
> at them as they ate the
> berries. At one point my parents considered having
> all the pyracantha bushes
> torn out and replaced with something less perilous
> to our windows.
>
> -gts