by Fran Prisco
Each year building owners and homeowners spend countless hours and money cleaning up after and repairing the damage caused by pest birds. Not only are these problems unsightly; pest birds and their feces can spread 60 plus transmittable diseases. Safety, sanitation and health hazards caused by bird droppings can pose serious liability risks, and left untreated, can lead to accidents and lawsuits. Bird feces, bird nests and debris can also create a bad public image with tenants and patrons. Individuals, companies and government agencies are tired of cleaning up bird feces or repairing the damage that is caused by pest birds and their droppings. To solve the problems with pest birds, you must use some sort of bird barrier.

Bird Barriers are safe and humane products that deter pest birds from landing, roosting and nesting where they are not welcome.  They come in several different types; physical bird barrier deterrents, visual bird barriers and sound devices to keep pest birds away.  Choosing the correct bird barrier depends on the type of pest bird you are having a problem with and what they are doing.

Choosing the right bird barrier:

Physical bird barriers are used to keep pest birds from landing and roosting on flat surfaces such as ledges, window sills, parapet walls, channel letters and other surfaces you do not want birds.  This type of bird barrier keeps pest birds away by creating a physical deterrent; they can not land on or enter the area protected. Physical bird barriers include bird spikes, electric shock systems, bird netting and bird spring wires.

Bird spikes are the most common bird barriers in use today.  When a ledge is covered with bird spikes, it makes it impossible for pest birds such as pigeons and seagulls to land, so they will move on to a more hospitable area.  Bird spikes are easy to install, economical and require little to no maintenance.

Electric shock systems are extremely low profile bird barriers that will work with all pest birds.  These systems give the birds a slight shock or “jolt” that quickly changes their habits and desire to land in the area protected.

Bird netting is used to completely exclude birds from areas such as under loading docks and eaves, airplane hangars, warehouses and other enclosed areas.  Once installed bird netting is a practically invisible bird barrier.  It has a long life with little to not maintenance required.

Visual Bird Barriers are those that cause some sort of visual distraction to the birds.  The birds will become confused or agitated and move on to a more suitable area.  Ideal places to use visual bird barriers are in trees, on boats, in vineyards, and other outdoor areas you want to keep pest birds from.  Visual barriers include, flash tape, scary balloons, bird diverters and even such items as hanging CDs.  Visual deterrents are effective if they are moved around so that the birds do not get used to them.

Sonic or Sound Bird Barriers are devices that create a sound that scares the birds away.  These units will usually play some sort of predator call and target bird distress calls.  Sound deterrents are best used out of doors in wide-open places. Being heard for over an acre of land; they are very loud.  They make the ideal deterrent for use on orchards, vineyards, landfills and electrical substations; open areas where it is impossible to use physical bird barriers.

The time and money spent to install some type of bird barrier is well worth the investment.  In the long run it will save you all of the time and money spent each year on clean-up and repairs to the damage left behind by pest birds.  Some bird barriers are easy to install while others may require a professional.  Contact your local pest control company to see if they a certified in bird control product installations.

Tags: bird barriers, bird deterrents, bird netting, bird repellents, bird spikes

This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 10:09 am by admin and is filed under Bird Control Products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.