THEY are describing it, somewhat tongue in cheek, as the animal world’s equivalent of the Turin Shroud.

It is in fact just a kitchen window that bears the imprint of a bird in flight – captured in the most remarkable detail as it thundered into the glass at breakneck speed.

It’s eyes and beak, feet and delicate tail feathers are all clearly ‘etched’ into the pane – a perfect self-portrait ‘painted’ by the oils in its ruffled plumage.

Remarkably the hapless wood pigeon lived to fly another day after its violent introduction to the double-glazing at Chris and Jane Hirsh’s home in Valley Road, Bridport.

The couple arrived back from a shopping trip to find him nursing a sore head on the ground beneath the window.

Mr Hirsh said: “Although he had lost a few feathers he was perfectly all right and later flew off into the nature reserve next door.

“His language, however, was worthy of the BBC.

“We often get birds flying into the windows and they usually survive.

“They sit for a while and then off they go – but they have never left an imprint like this before.

“It is so amazing you feel you could touch it, every feather. It’s incredible – you can even make out his feet over the back of his tail.

“It’s a bit like the Turin Shroud. He must have really belted that window.”

Mr Hirsh, a retired adviser with the local Citizens' Advice Bureau, added: “We think it was produced by the oil in his feathers – the more you look at it the more detail you can see, almost everything, from his beak to his little legs.”

He added that the fact that the glass had not shattered was testament to the quality of his double-glazing.

Although a remarkable sight birds crashing into windows are not unusual and it is estimated that more than 100 million birds are killed each year as a result.

Experts say that to stop the collisions they need to change the birds' perception of what they see.

Both tinted and clear glass are invisible to birds, who see a plant or tree in the reflection of a window, misinterpret it as safe haven and fly toward it.

The placement of leafy green plants inside a window seems to increase the risk of collision.

Another hazardous situation occurs when one pane of glass faces another, which creates an illusion of a passageway through a structure.

The extra momentum gathered as the bird attempts to ‘pass through’ is especially dangerous.