Keep Birds Away

A rooftop patio or terrace can be a great place to relax and throw parties. You may have decorative outdoor furniture and plants throughout these areas. One problem with rooftop patios and terraces is the birds they draw. Birds often use these areas for roosting and nesting. Fail to implement effective bird control to keep birds off these rooftop areas and you’ll have to constantly clean the area and possibly make repairs.

Bird droppings can quickly cover your furniture, chairs and plants, necessitating constant cleanups. Even outdoor chairs, chaise lounges and umbrellas can become permanently damaged by the acidic nature of bird droppings. Portable gas heaters can  become covered with bird droppings and, if not cleaned, can emit a terrible stench once turned on. Bird droppings can also create dangerous slip-and-fall hazards for you and your guests. Even if birds do no significant damage, the unsightly appearance and smell of this refuse can ruin the appearance of your terrace, patio or balcony. Keep in mind too, that bird droppings can carry any of 60 known diseases.

The solution, of course, is to install effective bird control measures now—before the birds arrive.  Here are a few bird deterrents the pros recommend:

Bird•B•Gone Sonic Shield™

This ingenious device scares birds and other critters away from yards, patios, decks, balconies and terraces using sound and light. It’s easily installed just about anywhere and runs on 4 AA batteries. The device has two modes of operation: daytime mode to repel birds using loud eagle sounds (a predator for most birds and a nighttime mode that uses only flashing LED lights for areas where night noises are not allowed.

Red Tail Hawks

A skilled and deadly predator, Red tail hawks are feared by most birds. Which is why Hawk Decoys can be so effective in bird control. These decorative decoys are easily placed around your patio, terrace or balcony. The best hawk decoys are made of heavy duty plastic and will stay realistic looking season after season. Place them in high visibility areas and re-position them from time to time. The decoy may be a dummy, birds are not.

Sonic Deterrents

Birds are always alert to threatening sounds. Which is why Sonic Bird Deterrents are so effective in keeping birds off patios, terraces and balconies. These devices emit pre-recorded distress and predator calls that birds instantly regard as a threat. If your patio, terrace or balcony is being invaded by various species of birds, consider getting the Bird Chase Super Sonic. It emits distress and predator calls for 22 different species of birds.

Visual Bird Deterrents

Easy to hang just about anywhere, Visual Bird Deterrents include Flash Tape and Reflective Banners, which reflect sunlight and rattle in the wind, and Scare Eye Diverters and Bird Scare Balloons adorned with large predator eyes to frighten birds. The important thing to remember about Visual Bird Deterrents is to move them around from time to time.

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.