Keep Birds Away

 

If you’re a homeowner, you’ve no doubt had problems with birds around your windows.
They may sit on your window sills and peck at the glass, reacting to their reflection, thinking there's another bird on the other side. Cardinals, Purple Martins and other small birds appear most likely to peck at their own reflection in windows and glass doors. You may have also encountered birds flying into your windows and sliding glass doors who believe the reflection is a landscape and not a solid surface. Bird window strikes can injure and kill birds.

The solution is effective and humane bird control for your windows and sliding glass doors. Some advice from the pros to prevent bird strikes and birds pecking at your glass:

Plastic Bird Spikes

Easy to install around window sills, Plastic Bird Spikes will keep birds from perching and landing. The spiked strips typically come in 3-, 5- and 7-inch widths. After a few unsuccessful landing attempts, birds just give up and move on.

Bird Alert Pecking Deterrent

Ideal for use with robins and cardinals, this long static-cling decal is easily placed at the bottom of a window to prevent birds from pecking at the glass. Each package contains one 48" x 6" decal. Bird Alert decals reflect ultraviolet light, which birds will see and realize the window is a surface and not a continuation of the landscape or an intruder in their territory. The decal can be easily removed and re-applied.

Window Alert Decals

These static cling decals are easily placed on windows and glass surfaces to prevent bird strikes. Window Alerts reflect ultraviolet light that birds will see to let birds know a hard surface is directly ahead of them. The decals are nearly invisible from the inside of the glass and can be removed for later use. Window Alerts are sold 12 per pack and one decal protects two or three square feet of glass.

Transparent Bird Gel

Easily applied, practically invisible, and very humane, Transparent Bird Gel leaves a sticky surface birds hate to land on. The best bird gels will last up to 6 months before needing to be reapplied. Gels are highly effective against pigeons, crows, gulls, starlings and many other species of larger birds. Be sure to clean off nesting materials and droppings before you apply these gels. Birds are naturally attracted to the scent of nests and droppings.

Bird Chase Super Sonic

Designed for large areas, Sonic Bird Deterrents will not only keep pest birds away from your windows but prevent birds from gathering around other problem areas of your home.  These devices emit a series of pre-recorded distress and predator calls that birds regard as their natural enemy (like falcons and hawks). If you’re being inundated by several bird species, get the Bird Chase Super Sonic. It emits distress and predator calls for 22 different species of birds.

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.