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Dr. Rob Fergus is an ornithologist who specializes in urban ecology and human/wildlife interactions. Dr. Fergus received his Ph.D. in urban bird conservation from the University of Texas at Austin. After founding the Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory in Austin, Texas he created additional bird conservation programs in Austin as the first executive director of the 2,500 member Travis Audubon Society. In 2004 he moved to suburban Philadelphia where he was the Senior Scientist for Urban Bird Conservation at the National Audubon Society until 2009. In addition to researching and consulting on human/bird interactions in cities across the United States, Latin America, and Europe, Dr. Fergus currently teaches at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and Rosemont College in Philadephia, Pennsylvania.
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How Birds See the World
Whether you have a problem with a bird, or just enjoy birds and want to know more about them, it can be useful and enlightening to explore the world form their point of view. The way different birds actually see the world makes a big difference in how they interact with people and our world. Knowing how birds see and interact with the world around them can help us avoid conflicts with birds and better direct our efforts to create a world that is acceptable and beneficial for both birds and people.
Bird Vision
First of all, when we’re talking about how birds see the world, we really are interested in how birds see. Birds are very visual creatures. What they see helps determine how they interact with the world around them—including us! In some ways, birds see the world very differently than humans do. It isn’t a stretch to say that they are living in a completely different world when it comes to how much of the world they see and how it looks to them.
Field of View
Humans basically see most of the 180 degrees right in front of us, since our eyes are in the front of our heads. Owls and hawks have similar forward facing eyes, but usually see a bit more of the world around them than we do—from 200-260 degrees. That means they have a much smaller blind spot behind them. Most birds have eyes on the sides of their heads, so they see even more of the world—pigeons see about 320 degrees around them, with only a tiny blind spot behind their head. Ever wonder why it’s hard to sneak up on a pigeon? Now you know! They almost always see you coming. It’s even worse with some ducks like Mallards. Their eyes are so high on the sides of their heads that they actually see 360 degrees—the whole world--around them.
Almost every inquiry I get about bird problems hides an underlying question of “why the heck is that bird doing this crazy thing?” While the inner workings of a bird mind may be beyond the realm of this article, we can better understand birds and why they do what they do when we start to look at what is important to them.
Bird Needs
Just like humans, birds have needs. On a regular basis they need food, water, sleep, and safety. Seasonally they may be driven to attract or select a mate, build a nest, defend a territory, and raise their young. While birds aren’t sitting around introspectively making wish lists, they do have hormones driving them to satisfy these basic needs. So in some sense we can say that the birds “want” to satisfy these needs. Whenever you are dealing with a bird, you are dealing with an animal specifically designed to fulfill certain needs. Each species has its own set of needs and unique ways of satisfying those needs. Each individual bird will satisfy those needs within whatever range of behavior is available to it and in response to its current circumstances.
How do I keep barn swallows from building their nests on my front porch?
Barn Swallows are valuable neighbors that help control flying insects, including insect pests such as flies and aphids. In many areas, their populations have declined by over 40% in recent decades (see for example this swallow report from Canada, so they could use our help. Some folks worry that the birds will be messy, leaving droppings on their porch, but this usually only lasts for the last 6-10 days that the young birds are in the nest. That’s when the birds start to defecate over the side of the nest. Before that the parent birds will keep the area pretty clean. So as long as the nest isn’t right over your door, consider letting these insect eating birds stay put, and just hose down the area after they leave. If you really do need to keep them from nesting on your porch, you can check out some of my recommendations.
I have this pigeon who hangs around the balcony and I need him gone. I have some very small grandkids and I don't want this bird around. This is new to me but I need to get this under control.
The first thing to ask yourself is how important it really is for you to get rid of this bird (or birds, often there are more than one)? Unless the bird is making a mess with its droppings, it isn’t much of a threat, and your grandkids may even enjoy having the bird around.
If you do decide that you really need to get rid of it, then you should watch it for a little while and notice what it is doing on your balcony. Is it eating something there like pet food that you need to get rid of? Is it trying to build a nest, or does it just hang out there? If it regularly sits or hangs out in just one or two places, Bird-B-Gone has several products that can keep pigeons from nesting or perching on ledges or other areas. Take a look at the bird deterrents and which ones might best cover the area where the bird likes to hang out.
I have around 100 grackles in my yard. They roost in a very tall pine tree. About 40 of them today dive bombed our friendly dog after he saw an injured bird and went to look at it. I would like them to leave. I tried banging pot lids together, etc. and nothing worked.
Banging pot lids together, though a lot of fun when you are a kid, probably won’t do too much to scare away a flock of Common Grackles! But you may be on the right track by thinking that sounds might scare them away. You may be able to disperse roosting grackles by playing a recording of their distress or predator calls. Bird-B-Gone has a Bird Chase Super Sonic sound system (http://birdbgone.com/products/bird-b-gone-super-sonic) that might do the trick. Other solutions you may hear about, like owl decoys, are usually less effective as eventually the birds figure out that the decoy isn’t a real threat (owls hunt at night).
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International Customers please click here to contact Bird-B-Gone. We can help you with your bird control problems or find you an installer to help you.
Testimonials
What are customers saying about Bird-B-Gone? Which products and services have worked for them? What do they love most about our service? Find out in their Testimonials!
Knowledge Center 
Be the first to know about the newest products from Bird-B-Gone! Offer a product that your competitors can't provide! Find out more about Bird-B-Gone's New Products here.
International Customers please click here to contact Bird-B-Gone. We can help you with your bird control problems or find you an installer to help you.
What are customers saying about Bird-B-Gone? Which products and services have worked for them? What do they love most about our service? Find out in their Testimonials!