If you love hanging out on your front porch to find peace, you probably don’t want noisy birds invading your space. Unfortunately, porches seem to attract these creatures for various reasons. Birds initially come for the flowering plants and colorful furniture and might stay if they find leaves, strings, lint and twigs for their nests. Your porch is even more appealing to them if there are surrounding tree branches, food sources and standing water.
If birds are stressing you out with their constant noise and nesting, here are some ways to keep them away. However, the most effective way to restore the peace on your porch is to call in bird control professionals. They will assess the situation on your property and provide a long-term solution to manage and deter birds. They can also return for regular maintenance checks to locate and remove hidden nests on your porch. Plus, these experts can help you with other pest-related problems, like dealing with the different types of mosquitoes on your property.
Tips for Homeowners
Being around birds can make you feel more connected to nature, helping you relax and tune out the stresses of life. However, they can be stressful to have on your property. Aside from being loud, messy and destructive in large groups, their droppings can also carry diseases. If birds seem to love your porch to your annoyance, that’s likely because they’re getting everything they need: food, shelter and water.
Are you wondering how to keep birds off your porch? Here are some ways to keep them away.
Eliminate Food and Water Sources
Food is the number one reason birds love porches. There could be crumbs you accidentally dropped while enjoying your outdoor meal or leftover food in the trash nearby. You might even have a bird feeder that gives them breakfast daily.
Eliminate these food sources if you don’t want birds coming over anymore. If you feed your pets outside, quickly clean up their leftovers and put their bowls away so birds can’t get to them. In addition, secure your trash bins so birds can’t get into them. It can also help to move bird feeders and bird baths away from your property or remove them entirely.
Remove Nesting Materials
The last thing you want is for birds to live on your porch rent-free. You can prevent them from taking up residence by removing nesting materials like twigs, leaves, grass clippings and feathers. Birds are resourceful and will use even hair, fur and trash for their homes. Regular cleanups will limit the materials they can work with.
If birds have already built their nests on your porch, you can usually remove them once they are empty. However, you can check with local laws to ensure you’re not breaking any rules. A bird control pro will know the best solution to dealing with any type of bird.
Block Off Potential Nesting Sites
Small birds can access various areas on the porch to build their nests in, including the ceiling, light fixtures and columns. Installing a physical barrier like bird netting can be one of the most effective ways to keep them away. While bird netting can be effective, it requires proper installation and maintenance. A bird control specialist can install bird netting on your porch and ensure it’s doing its job.
Aside from bird netting, you can use spikes, rods and other physical barriers to keep your porch bird-free. Spikes reduce the flat surfaces where birds can build their nests, while rods have a shiny surface that confuses birds and prevents them from landing in the area.
Let Bird Control Specialists Take Over
As with any other pest, birds can be challenging to control. If they have taken over your porch despite your efforts, contact professionals to handle the situation. They will assess the level of infestation and place the necessary measures to control the bird population on your property. They also know how to get rid of pigeons if you’re dealing with this specific invasive species.
How Do I Stop Birds Pooping on My Deck?
While the peaceful sound of birdsong is a beautiful thing to wake up to, bird feces on your deck isn’t. Not only is it unsightly to have poop all over your property and garden furniture, but it can also be a health risk to you and your family.
If you don’t want to deal with bird poop on your deck, eliminate food sources in the area. Find other spots for bird feeders, ideally away from your property.
In addition, clean up immediately after eating outside. Birds don’t waste time and will quickly swoop in on crumbs and leftovers. Without anything to munch on, birds are less likely to visit your deck and leave nasty presents.
Aside from removing food, here are other DIY methods that can help keep birds and their poop away from your deck.
Visual Deterrents
Visual deterrents can be an effective way to ward off birds and prevent them from pooping on your deck. However, these intelligent creatures might get used to these tactics after repeated exposure. Combine visual deterrents with other methods to maintain their scare value and keep them effective against birds.
Bright and reflective surfaces are an unpleasant sight to these creatures. You can hang light-reflective items like aluminum foil strips and old CDs around your deck to make them feel unwelcome. If you want something more aesthetically pleasing, sun catchers and small hanging mirrors can also do the trick.
Planting decoys is another sneaky visual trick to scare birds. Life-like owls are usually effective because birds see them as predators, forcing them to keep their distance. Hawks and coyotes are other decoy options, although they might scare off your guests, too.
Auditory Deterrents
Auditory deterrents are another way to try to control birds on your property. Humming lines are one option, a type of tape that emits a humming noise in the breeze that’s unpleasant to birds. Distress signals and alarm calls are other products you can explore.
However, birds can become accustomed to these sounds, even if they were initially scared of them. Birds are smart creatures, so they can quickly learn to ignore the noises after figuring out the scheduled time and pattern. It helps to randomize the pitch, timing and duration to keep the birds on their toes.
Because visual and auditory deterrents have limited capabilities, combining them with professional control methods is most effective. Contact bird control professionals to come to your home and assess your bird problem. They have the tools and expertise to keep these creatures in check and maintain the peace on your property.
Do Wind Chimes Keep Birds Away?
Birds can be fun to gaze at. However, some homeowners prefer to admire these creatures from afar. If you’d rather not have birds flocking to your property, could wind chimes be the solution you’re looking for?
Wind chimes can work to an extent. Certain sounds are unpleasant or scary to birds, and the loud clanging of wind chimes can drive them off. However, they will eventually adjust to the sound and return to your yard, especially if there are food and water sources. Using wind chimes with the help of professional bird control services is the best way to deter birds.
Many homeowners find it essential to control the bird population on their property. Here are some of the negative effects of a bird infestation.
Property Damage
Birds can cause costly damage to your home. They can block your ventilation ducts and cause a fire. They can also clog your drains and gutters, leading to a flood. In addition, their droppings are acidic, which is bad news for your roof. It speeds up the rusting process, shortening your roof’s lifespan.
Health Risks
Bird droppings can carry various diseases, including E.coli, salmonella, cryptococcus and histoplasmosis. They can also carry parasites like ticks and mites, causing a bigger problem for homeowners.
Leave Your Bird Problems to a Professional
Why are there so many birds in my yard? If this problem has been stressing you out, you don’t have to solve it alone. A pest control specialist will know how to deal with the pesky birds on your property and keep their population in check.
Trust ABC for Bird Control
ABC Home & Commercial Services has been helping homeowners control pests for over 75 years. As the largest independently-owned pest control company in the state of Texas, our pest control technicians have the experience and the know-how to quickly identify the source of your pest problem and come up with effective solutions. We’re always here to help if and when those pesky birds decide to make a home out of yours.
