The belief that a bird flying into a house is a death omen is extended by a bird striking a windscreen. Because cars have only been widely used since the second part of the 20th century, the superstition involving birds hitting car windscreens is most likely a more recent development of this superstition.

Folklore frequently depicts birds as otherworldly beings with the ability to travel between dimensions. This idea probably originated from the fact that birds can fly, making them heavenly animals and giving people the impression that they have a close relationship with the culture’s God or gods. This is also perhaps the reason why many gods have been portrayed as birds. Horace and Isis, two Egyptian deities, were shown as birds. Another representation of the Norse god Odin is a bird.

This and other superstitions serve as a means of explaining weird or strange occurrences that first appeared when science was unable to explain them. But as science has developed, it has become clear that the most likely cause of bird crashes into car windows is that the birds mistake a reflection for another bird when they catch a glimpse of it. Therefore, rather than being a portent of approaching death, a bird attacking a window is probably a bird trying to get another bird to leave its territory.