Pest Birds Create Huge Mess in Residential Neighborhood

Thousands of European Starlings have been invading a Johnson City, TN neighborhood for many years, and the homeowners on East Holston Avenue have had it with the noise and the mess. Bird droppings rain down incessantly on cars, homes and sidewalks, which is not only unsightly but a health concern. In the winter, these bird pests travel in flocks and invade cities to get warm.

Some residents have resorted to firearms to scare birds away, but many admit it’s only a temporary solution, as the birds always come back. Experts say, starlings prefer dark, quiet places to sleep, so harassing the birds with bright lights/noises and bird distress recordings may offer relief. These tactics must be maintained for about five days to get rid of birds in any one area. Thinning out trees also helps. Here are two effective bird control measures the experts at Bird-B-Gone recommend:

Sonic Shield™--the Sound Solution to Pest Birds

The Bird-B-Gone Sonic Shield™ employs sight and sound to scare birds away from all areas of a yard and trees. It features two operating modes: a daytime mode, which combines flashing LED lights and loud barking dog sounds to scare birds; and a nighttime mode, which uses only the bright flashing LED lights. The latter mode is ideal for most areas where barking dog sounds would wake neighbors at night. Entirely portable and self-contained, the Sonic Shield™ is simple to set up wherever birds gather and roost. The device uses just four standard AA batteries, so there’s no need to run long AC cords to power it. The Sonic Shield™ can easily be mounted to a light fixture, over a door, in a tree, or on the roof. It’s ruggedly designed for outdoor use.

Bird Chase Super Sonic Scares Birds from Yards

A highly effective sound bird deterrent, the Bird Chase Super Sonic by Bird-B-Gone fully exploits a bird’s sensitive hearing and natural fear of predators. It broadcasts pre-recorded distress and predator calls for over 22 species of birds—including starlings, pigeons, crows, gulls, and grackles. You can set it to deter a specific species of bird or switch it to a "general" setting to deter multiple bird species. The device repeats the distress and predator calls every 10 minutes to keep pest birds away. It features a volume control that lets you vary the sound output—from 65-105 decibels. The sounds resemble normal bird calls to the human ear, so they won’t bother your pets or neighbors. And unlike ultrasonic devices, which emit sounds above the hearing range of most birds, the Bird Chase Super Sonic generates sounds birds can actually hear. The device is powerful enough to protect a full acre of property, so it’s ideal for most homeowners. It’s also ruggedly designed for outdoor use.

How to Keep Birds Away from Your Pool

Birds are often attracted to swimming pools, spas and other water features in a backyard. The main concern with bird pests is the diseases they carry, especially those found in their droppings. Bird droppings are also very slippery when wet, which can create dangerous slip-and-fall hazards for children and even adults. While birds can be shooed away with the blast from a water hose or by banging pots and pans together, birds will invariably return when you leave.

If you have a bird problem around your pool, there are a number of things you can do to discourage pest birds from roosting and nesting near the immediate area. The first is to remove any plants that produce edible nuts, fruits and berries. You should also remove any bird feeders. And keep trees and large shrubs tightly trimmed, removing any branches that hang close to your pool. After you’ve taken these preliminary steps, you should invest in a professional bird deterrent. Here are some bird control devices the experts recommend:

Scarecrows Blast Bird Pests Away

Using a harmless blast of water to scare birds from your pool, Bird-B-Gone’s Scarecrow acts like a reliable 24/7 sentry. Any bird that enters this device’s area of protection will be showered with a “wake-up” water blast, alarming sprinkler sound, and Scarecrow’s realistic looking bird-like head. Easy to set up and use, Scarecrows connect directly to your garden hose. And each blast consumes just 2 to 3 cups of water. Scarecrows cover about 1,200 square feet with a spray that reaches out 35 feet and 45 feet wide (enough for most pools). Scarecrows are powered by a single 9-volt battery for up to 6 months, delivering over 1,000 "firings." The device’s sensitivity and coverage distance are easily fine-tuned to fit your pool’s shape and surroundings. Incidentally, kids and dogs love to play with these devices.

Sonic Bird Deterrents Scare Birds from Pools

While firecrackers and noisemakers may temporarily scare birds away, the more scientific (and long-term effective) approach is to intimidate birds with the sounds they dread to hear—their natural predators (like hawks and falcons). That’s where Bird-B-Gone’s Solar Bird Chase Super Sonic comes in. It broadcasts distress and predator calls birds know all too well. And they will seek the safety of someone else’s yard rather than stick around yours. The threatening birdcalls are repeated every ten minutes. The sounds emitted by Bird Chase device resemble natural birdcalls so they won’t bother your pets or neighbors. And unlike ultrasonic devices that emit high-frequency sounds birds can’t hear, the Bird Chase system creates sounds well within the hearing range of birds. Each Bird Chase device comes with a built-in speaker that will cover up to an acre.

How to Keep Pest Birds Off Commercial Buildings

Pest birds are always looking for a place to roost and nest on commercial property. And once they've settled on a building or warehouse, they tend to gather in greater numbers on rooftops, parapet walls, windowsills and other elevated ledges.

Without effective bird control measures to deter them, pest birds can deface and damage these areas fairly quickly. Bird droppings are not just unsightly. The acid in bird droppings can corrode metal and eventually erode stone. Bird droppings can jam up windows, doors, rooftop ventilators and skylights. This waste can also render moveable security cameras inoperative, “locking up” gimbal mechanisms. Droppings can damage expensive AC units by seizing up fans. Bird nests and droppings can even clog rain gutters and down pipes, causing rooftops to overflow with water. Some roof sections have actually collapsed due to bird damage.

Bird droppings are also unhealthy. They can carry any of 60 known diseases—like salmonellosis. This makes pest birds particularly hazardous in areas where food is stored, processed or served. Finally, bird droppings on walkways and entryways to a commercial building can create serious slip-and-fall hazards. Wet bird poop can be as slippery as a banana peel.

Failing to implement an effective bird deterrent strategy can saddle a commercial property owner with expensive cleanups, repairs and even legal liabilities. Fortunately, there’s a bird deterrent that gets rid of bird pests humanely, simply by denying them a place to land—it’s called Bird Slope.

Pest Birds Can’t Get a Grip

Bird-B-Gone’s Bird Slope is ideal for use on open ledges that meet at a 90-degree angle. Pest birds simply slide off these angled, slippery PVC panels whenever they try to land. The sloped panels install easily on eaves, ledges, beams and similar areas frequented by birds. And they are equally effective against all types of birds.

Up to 10 inches of Bird Deterrence

Bird Slope comes in 4-foot long sections and is sold 48 feet per box. The panels are easily screwed, glued or nailed to virtually any flat surface. A handy "snap on" extender makes it easy to adapt to ledges as wide as 10 inches. (The basic bird slope, without an extender can protect a 6-inch wide ledge.) You can also get mounting clips to install the panels vertically on the sides of buildings. Some Bird Slopes even come with “end caps” to prevent birds from getting behind the panels.

Aesthetic Solution to Bird Pest Problems

To blend in with its surroundings, Bird Slope is now available in two colors--stone and grey. Each panel is made of UV-protected PVC material to make it more resistant to sun and harsh weather. If you're installing Bird Slope next to electrical wiring, the panels are non-conductive for extra safety. A glue trough on underside of each panel makes for easy installation using standard outdoor polyurethane adhesive.

How To Keep Birds Away From Your Pool

by Alex A. Kecskes

If you have pest birds hanging around your pool, you know the problems they cause. They leave droppings everywhere, which means frequent (and expensive) pool cleanings and constant hosing down of walkways, railings and steps. If you live in Southern California, ducks can be a big problem around pools. So can pigeons and grackles.

Sometimes birds clean out their nests and drop their waste in and around a pool. They often do this to avoid drawing predators to their nests. Black birds will sometimes spit in a pool. Some homeowners have resorted to poisons and BB guns. Not a good idea if you have pets or kids around (it’s also illegal to kill or harm certain birds). Others have taken to placing rubber snakes around the pool. These can be initially traumatizing to small children, and some pets have a tendency to chew and eat them. There are effective bird control devices you can use that will keep pest birds away from your pool without risking danger to people, kids, birds or pets. They include:

Bird Sonics. Mounted under eaves, patio covers or gazebos, these bird repellent devices can keep pest birds away from your pool or spa. Bird sonics emit predator and distress calls that birds instinctively fee from. They work on a bird's natural fear of predators, as well as their acutely sensitive hearing (birds can process sounds in 1/200th of a second; humans process sounds in 1/20th of a second).

Sonic bird deterrents work well against pigeons, crows, starlings, swallows, gulls, woodpeckers, sparrows, grackles, cormorants and many other species. One commercially available sonic system blasts the sound of Peregrine falcons (a pigeon's dreaded enemy) defending their territory. Another system targets starlings and seagulls, emitting the sounds of predator hawk screeching and gulls under attack. The best sonic systems will regularly alter the pitch, frequency, timing and intensity of their sounds. This keeps pest birds from getting used to repetitive sounds. One popular system can emit distress and predator calls for as many as 22 types of birds. The calls are repeated once every fifteen minutes. Sonic bird deterrents are not harmful to birds, pets or humans. The sounds they emit merely resemble normal bird sounds.

Visual Scare Deterrents. These include Bird Scare Balloons, flash tape and twine. The balloons feature large predator eyes that make birds really nervous. Scare Bird Diverters use the same principle. They feature a giant predator eye and can be hung under eaves to frighten birds. To keep birds, geese and ducks away from pools, fill bird scare balloons one-fourth full of water, and the rest with air. The balloons will float around the pool with predator eyes and shiny reflective surfaces constantly in motion to keep birds away.

When using visual scare devices, it’s important to move them around occasionally to prevent swallows from getting used to them.

Scarecrows. Any pest birds that approach this device’s radius of protection get hit with a stunning but harmless blast of water. The sudden water blast, alarming sprinkler sound and realistic looking bird-like moving head "persuade" birds to stay away. Scarecrows are simple to set up and easy to use. They connect to almost any garden hose, yet they consume just 2 to 3 cups of water per spray. Scarecrows cover approximately 1,200 square feet with a stream that reaches out 35 feet and 45 feet wide. They work day and night for up to 6 months and deliver over 1,000 "firings" on a single 9-volt battery. For added versatility, scarecrows can be easily fine tuned to adjust both their sensitivity and coverage distance. Incidentally, kids and dogs love to play with these devices.

Mini Scarecrow. For smaller applications, say to keep pest birds away from walkways, pool steps, diving boards or railings, there's the Mini Scarecrow. It uses compressed air and sound to scatter pest birds and "convince" them to avoid the area. Like its big brother, the Mini comes to life the second a pest bird gets within 3 to 4 feet of its sensor. Unlike its larger brother, the Mini hits birds with a squeal and a harmless blast of air. You can easily adjust Mini's angle of detection and spray angle to zero in on trouble spots. Each can holds over 200 sprays.

Bye-Bye Birdie Yes, You Can Scare Birds Away

by Alex A. Kecskes

While most birds are loved by man, pest birds represent a significant and ongoing problem. According to the FAA, bird strikes cost civil aviation almost $500 million a year. Keep in mind that just one bird can destroy an expensive jet engine in just seconds. The fact is, bird strikes on military airfields endanger our troops, can jeopardize the mission and ruin equipment. It's easy to see why many people look for ways to scare birds away.
Growers don't much care for pest birds either. Native and non-native bird species have been known to cause crop losses in vineyards--typically 30 percent to as much as 100 percent. Pest birds can quickly devour seeds and ripening fruit. Many growers pull out all the stops to scare birds away.

In the cities and urban areas, pest birds can wreak havoc with building facades, statues, schools, public playgrounds and parks. Bird droppings can destroy the paint on cars and buildings. They leave an unsightly mess and can carry a number of communicable diseases. Diseases transmitted by birds include aspergillosis, salmonellosis, thrush, avian tuberculosis, coccidiosis, cryptococcoses, encephalitis, histoplasmosis, Newcastle disease, toxoplasmosis and West Nile virus. No wonder so many municipalities have spent considerable sums of money to scare birds away.

The feral pigeon is by far the most prolific urban pest bird in the world. Originally descended from the domesticated rock dove, they are now wild and live in close proximity to man. Feral pigeons are scavengers, scrounging for food in cities and town centers, where they are often eagerly fed by the general public. Feral pigeon populations are on the rise due to a lack of natural predators, the constant supply of food and their ability to breed year around.

Other pest birds include the house sparrow, the starling and the gull. Gulls are scavengers and feed from scraps of food in town centers as well as sewerage outlets and domestic garbage dumps. Starlings often gather in huge flocks where their droppings ruin structures and monuments. Small but still a nuisance are sparrows, which often clog rain gutters and downspouts, and frequently cause electrical equipment shorts and fires.

To scare birds away without harming them can prove to be quite a challenge. Fortunately, there are a number of pest bird deterrents that are available to humanely discourage birds from landing, roosting and nesting.

For pigeons and large birds, consider the use of the highly effective Bird Spike strip. Harmless to birds, the intimidating spikes simply discourage birds from landing. Some bird spikes are made of stainless steel, others use rigid unbreakable polycarbonate spikes (the poly spikes are less expensive).

For flat even areas, the Bird Spider has proven its worth as an effective pest bird deterrent. The spindly spider arms whip around in the wind to scare birds away. Spiders come in several diameters to deter various bird sizes. Harmless to birds, spiders are easy to maintain and easy to install. Similar to the spider, the motorized whirly-gig utilizes rotating arms to scare birds away. Ideal for parapet walls, roofs, signs, and billboards, some of these products are powered by batteries and others are even powered by solar energy.

Next up are the growing number of balloons and banners of iridescent reflective foil and shiny tape, which create an “Optical Distraction Zone.” Some of these bird scare products feature lifelike reflective predator eyes. Others have "day-glow" backsides to scare birds away at night. One of the many things that make these bird scare products so appealing is their low cost and easy installation. They're ideal for use on boat docks, pool areas, overhangs, gazebos, and other troublesome areas.

We know people get irritated whey they walk across a carpet, reach for a doorknob and get shocked. It's the same with birds. Electric Shock Bird Repellers have been used for years to scare birds away. Ideal for pigeons, seagulls and larger birds, these electrified tracks mildly zap birds that try to land. Easily mounted on ledges, signs, rooftops, and flat or curved surfaces, many electric tracks have a low profile tracks, so they can't be seen from below.

While screaming at birds or blasting loud horns can scare birds away, there are bird deterrents that use ultrasonic sounds that annoy birds--annoy them enough to discourage them from landing. These audio deterrents imitate distress calls and predator calls. They're ideal for enclosed areas like parking garages, overhangs and sheds, where  pigeons, sparrows, starlings or seagulls sometimes gather in flocks.

Farmers and growers have long used this next category of bird deterrents to scare birds away. Known as Foggers or Misters, these disperse a food-grade, non-lethal aerosol of methyl anthranilate. The chemical has been approved by the EPA and won't harm birds. It simply irritates birds that fly through it, convincing them to avoid the area. Some misting systems feature multiple remote spray nozzles to allow specific areas to be treated and pinpointed.