Bird Deterrent Products

by Alex A. Kecskes

As a homeowner, you’ve no doubt had your run-ins with pest birds. Maybe it was geese trampling your garden and frightening your kids and pets. Or perhaps woodpeckers gave you grief, turning your nice new siding into Swiss cheese. Or swallows leaving those ugly mud nests under your eaves—the eaves you had to repaint last year because the mud nests ate into the paint. Then again, you could have been troubled by pigeons pooping all over your new patio set and BBQ—they left a disease carrying, smelly mess you had to clean up almost every week. 
No matter what the bird, your bird problem called for time and money to be spent. Time you should have spent with your family.  And money you could have used for a thousand other things.

If you’re like most homeowners, you don’t have a lot of money to spend in these tough economic times. You can’t afford to hire a pest control company to completely bird proof your home. Which means, you’ve got to find an economical way to get rid of pest birds, or at least keep them away from your home. After all, pest birds can do a lot of damage to your home.  Their nests and feathers can clog your expensive  AC unit (and you know how expensive repairs on that can be). Bird droppings can also cover you solar panels, which can drastically reduce their efficiency. And bird nests can stop up your rain gutters, causing water to overflow and your roof to leak (more expense).

The solution? Visual Bird Deterrents.

Fortunately, today’s bird control companies offer a variety of products in this category that are both humane and effective in keeping pest birds away from your home. Here are some simple guidelines in choosing the right Visual Bird Deterrent:
Flash Tape, Banners, Diverters & Balloons

These catch a pest bird’s eye and make him feel uncomfortable enough to leave. Flash Tape and Banners reflect sunlight and snap in the breeze. Scare Eye Diverters and Bird Scare Balloons feature large predator eyes to frighten pest birds. These visual bird deterrents area  inexpensive and attach easily to any elevated  point around your home or patio.

Hawk Decoys

Hawks are feared by most birds. They hunt during the day when birds are active. Hawk decoys can be very effective for both small and large pest birds. The goal here is to get the
most realistic looking decoys you can afford. Look for a sturdy, quality decoy made of durable plastic that’s designed to stay realistic looking after hot summers and winter rains. When using hawk decoys, place them in high visibility areas in plain sight of pest birds.

When using any visual bird deterrent,  be sure to move them around once a week to make birds believe they represent a real threat.

by Alex A. Kecskes

In pairs of one or two, grackles can be entertaining to watch and fun to feed. But they often arrive in flocks of hundreds, even thousands, occupying trees and large bushes, making quite a racket and leaving a huge mess in droppings.

Grackles are blackbirds with iridescent purple-blue feathers on the back, neck and head. They have black legs and heads, yellow eyes, and a long tail. They’re not exactly small birds, either, measuring up to 13 inches in length with an 18-inch wingspan.

Most grackles are usually found in open or urban areas, in orchards and savannas, as well as suburban and agricultural settings. They prefer to gather in scattered trees. Grackles will eat insects, small fish, mice, small bats, seeds, grains, acorns, and some fruits. So if you have a fruit tree on your property, a flock of grackles can consume or destroy your fruit in a very short time.  All the more reason to use some proven bird deterrent methods to discourage them.

That doesn’t mean resorting to firecrackers, pellet guns, even poisons, for these are simply temporary measures that won’t achieve the long-term results you need to keep them away from your property. Not to mention the fact that poisons and pellet guns are inhumane and dangerous to pets and children. Fortunately, there are several effective and humane bird deterrents you use.

They include:

Sonic Bird Deterrents Encourage Birds to Leave

Grackles, like most birds, are easily alarmed. But unless you plan on banging pots 24/7, the birds will come back minutes after you leave. One solution to this problem is to install a Sonic Bird Deterrent. This device will broadcast distress calls of other grackles as well as the predator calls of a grackle’s natural enemy—hawks or falcons—day and night until grackles get the message that your property is unsafe for them. By the way, don’t bother with ultrasonic deterrent devices. These only irritate pets and birds can't hear them.

Reflective Eye Diverters  Scare Birds

These things are classified as visual bird deterrents and can be very effective against grackles when you hang them in trees and large bushes. They will scare pest birds away from trees, patios, gardens, and other areas of your property. Each diverter features a large “mock” predator eye on its shiny reflective surface. Grackles take one look and they become convinced that a big predator is sizing them up for a meal. Result: they head off to someone else’s property.

Hawk Decoys Deter Birds

Most birds fear the sight of hawks, which is why Hawk Decoys can be so effective against grackles. Strategically placed in trees and other lofty structures, Hawk Decoys can convince grackles that your property is too dangerous to occupy. The best decoys are made of heavy-duty plastic to remain realistic looking for years outdoors. For best results, move the decoy around often to convince grackles that your hawk is real.