Simple, Effective Bird Deterrent--Finally!

[svHyLyte]

Well--its now about two weeks since my last up-date/report on the matter and we still remain largely bird poop free. We did find a few spots one day, that were easily cleaned up, as there was evidently a power outage in our basin for awhile that shut down Murphy's "Bird Bane" but he intends/or has overcome a repeat of that difficulty with a battery back-up, UPS, device similar to that many folks have for their 'puters. So long as Murphy's Bird Bane keeps chirping away, the boat basin--and with the wireless remote speakers--the Club remain bird (living or dead) free.

FWIW...

[JPA Cate]

@ svHyLyte:

While we were in Eden, NSW, (Oz), there was a large motor vessel who had a similar thing to play, that was activated by a motion sensor. No birds around for about a 1/2 mile radius. Even the cormorants ( and you know how big their poops are! ) were elsewhere. I was impressed.

Ann

[Markhunter1097]

Originally Posted by billgewater

In Australia, we are blessed with very large Sulphur crested cockatoos (Percy Mitchell's). They descend on marinas in large numbers and behave like a collection of half drunk teenage boys. Raucous, really, really noisy. Then they enjoy swinging on anything available, usually the wind direction detector at the mast head or the VHF antenna. Then if in a really playful mood, they begin to bend anything they can or strip off any insulation. I suspect if an audible distress alarm was on they would descend on it and in great delight just totally rip it all apart. Otherwise lovely birds. But they don't **** much. If you call to them they tilt their head to one side and begin to chat to you or start dancing. Hello cocky! They like socializing with humans. Great pets.

Hanging CD discs in the breeze (which constantly flash) has been know to work as well as having a cat. Count your blessings.

They live to eat the uv strip of furled headsails too. How do I know that?

[zeehag]

here in mazatlan we have grackles. these birdees are smart. my 2 cats kept em off boat fro a while-- but now one is teasing chico and making dogbark noises imitating dog next door....this bird sits on masthead and makes grackle sounds then heads over to next door boat and barks. yup it barks. is quite entertaining.
chico wants to eat this bird. they talk and bird teases chico and chico watches it and tries to get it.... but birdee always just out of reach. sometimes bird walks dock teasing chico.. when he sees me, goes to the gate behind my boat and grackles. is most entertaining. birdee leaves when it sees me....seems something out of order here, but this cat is best friends with the dog bird imitates...
and yes i need to wash off tarps daily, as bird poos on tarps. at least it has some manners...

[JPA Cate]

My bet is on Chico, Zee. Senor grackle will get careless, then there will be a cloud of feathers, and a smile on Chico's face for all to see. ;-)

Ann

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

My bet is on Chico, Zee. Senor grackle will get careless, then there will be a cloud of feathers, and a smile on Chico's face for all to see. ;-)

Ann

\with all my heart i hope so. he needs a kill again. has one already--a swallow or whatever eats skeeters while swooping. cute lil guys. and was he ever proud. and ate his kill. good boy.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by zeehag

\with all my heart i hope so. he needs a kill again. has one already--a swallow or whatever eats skeeters while swooping. cute lil guys. and was he ever proud. and ate his kill. good boy.

My cat used to eat everything, except gall bladders. She was a mighty huntress, and we never had a mouse in the house till her last year of life, and she had gotten a little slow. A good, affectionate kitty.


A.

[danielamartindm]

I bought a sea osprey kite tethered to an 18 foot telescoping metal pole several months back, and bungeed it to my dock next to my vessel. It banks, soars, and flaps its wings (with realistic flapping sounds) in the wind. At first I doubted its efficacy, as it didn't seem to alarm gulls, egrets, pellicans, crows, and herons in neighboring yards, and I noticed a few deposits on my boat. As months have passed I now conclude that those few deposits were the result of daylight bombings from altitude, rather than the result of birds perched on the rigging or vessel.

I am revising my review of this product. It costs about $100. The kites are made of Ty-Vec, seem very durable, and can be replaced for $30. I think that although the area fowl are skeptical that the kite presents any real danger to them, it does make them uneasy to the point of bypassing my yard in favor of others that do NOT have such a feature- like thieves who choose boats or dinks that appear safest or easiest to rob. In addition, the osprey kite doesn't require maintenance or batteries, it makes no noise beyond the wing flapping, it's pretty against the backdrop of a blue sky, and it makes a great conversation piece because of the realism of its "flight."

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

My cat used to eat everything, except gall bladders. She was a mighty huntress, and we never had a mouse in the house till her last year of life, and she had gotten a little slow. A good, affectionate kitty.


A.

Bird vs. Cat:

One of our former neighbors had a very large gray Parrot that was caged in their kitchen but often allowed "liberty" to roam their house. "Polly" had, over the years, also developed a fairly wide vocabulary that he/she employed from time-to-time, mostly to "cage" a treat for the exhibition.

As it came to pass, at one point our neighbors "inherited" their daughter's black cat, know as "Hunter" (given his propensities) after she moved into an apartment that didn't permit pets (and cats, particularly, give their propensity to stink!) after college. Upon arriving, it seems that cat drew a bead on Polly and thereafter made every effort to grab him/her but he/she being a wily target, always avoided capture tho' was not unruffled. N'any case, it seems our neighbor would call out "Here Kitty, Kitty" at meal times and the cat soon learned to come running into the kitchen at her beck'n call, expecting a meal. Polly, of course, took note of this behavior.

As it came to pass, one evening after the cat's arrival, we were visiting them and enjoying a glass of wine on their lanai when, very clearly, "Here Kitty, Kitty" rang out from the adjacent kitchen door, followed, in short order, by a screeching/howling cat! Polly, it seems, imitating our neighbor, had "baited" Hunter with the dinner call and when he came running into the kitchen, had dropped on him from behind and planted his/her talons in his butt! The up-roar and screeching this entailed was unbelievable until Polly released his/her grip and fluttered back up to his/her perch while the cat took refuge under the kitchen table. We, of course, were cracking up tho' our neighbors didn't find the event amusing in the least, not knowing which animal to worry about more, cat or bird!

Subsequently, Polly continued to bait the cat from time-to-time and he/she and Hunter remained irreconcilable such that Hunter finally had to be foisted off on another of our neighbors before one killed or maimed the other.

FWIW...

[Wdlfbio]

All migratory birds in Mexico, USA, Canada, and Russia receive the same protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). Feral pigeons (rock dove/pigeon), European starlings, and house sparrows (English sparrows) are not considered migratory birds, nor are feral/domestic birds. The MBTA does have language allowing the governments to issue mig bird depredation permits to kill the birds and remove their eggs/nests. But, any killing is only permitted as a small part of a much larger nonlethal control program. Some marinas apply and obtain these permits and do have folks that shoot a few gulls, Canada geese, and a few other species that are known and repeat offenders. Usually the permit is issued because the excrement from these birds is highly excessive and presents a safety risk to users. A private person is unlikely to be issued such a permit.

That leaves nonlethal deterrence methods for common folks.

The most effective is to remove the attraction. Getting rid of food scraps is easy, but getting rid of perch spots (i.e., our boats) is tough.

So next is exclusion. Grid wires of monofilament or braided fishing line are cheap and easy. But, they won’t keep a bird from perching atop a mast.

Next is deterrent devices. There are active and static deterrents. Active devices are far bettter than static. Birds are smart and will habituate to things they learn are not really dangerous to them. The active ones tend to give longer benefit. The blow up dolls or car wash dancer things are awesome. Having 1 of those at a smaller scale or an “air snake” would be great. Have it go off at random intervals with no warning signs for maximum benefit. The distress calls and ultrasonic repellers (the latter being a total waste of money) generally fail quickly. Birds initially are scared, but never see the actual distressing situation, so they learn to ignore them. Kind of like being nagged all the time... in one ear, out the other. Static deterrents, like owl decoys, are analogous to a cop car parked on the side of the road. After a few days driving by and not seeing a cop in the driver seat or anyone being pulled over, they are no longer effective to regular crowd. Hanging CDs, mylar ribbon, party streamers, etc are easily habituated to. Dead bird effigies are generally highly effective deterrents, but require a permit to acquire and use. Even those don’t last very long. But, if you can chase a group of new birds off for a few days and they find somewhere more suitable to hang out, then you’ve succeeded.

Of course, there are always a few outliers. It all depends on how attractive your boat/area is compared to other areas. Food is probably the best attractant there is.

Another option is to regularly throw food onto the boat a few piers down from you...

[svHyLyte]

Well--It's now about two weeks since my last up date and we, and all the boats around us, and, if fact, our Club given the use of wireless remote speakers, remain Bird Poop, and for that matter, Bird Free. I did find one spot but given the "splatter" pattern, I suspect that was a high altitude bombing run by a passing bird during one of the lulls in Murphy's Bird Bane. So, we've gone about two months now without poop which I find remarkable, and remarkably pleasing (considering I've had to clean the stuff up for 50+ years!)

At this juncture I'm thinking I will only report on the matter again intermittently or if the Bird Bane stops working (unless others would prefer more frequent reports).

FWIW...

[CaptTom]

I'm thrilled to hear how it's working. Maybe once every month or two until you've got 12 solid month's of experience with it.

I really like the idea of the motion sensor connection. I think if I had something squawking all the time on my boat, someone would complain.

Then again, I saw a bald eagle fly over the marina yesterday. Maybe the real thing would be an even better deterrent.

[svHyLyte]

Well--It's now a tad over a month since my last comment and Murphy's Bird Bane is still working like a charm. There have been a few short intervals when its been "off" when some Lame-O disconnects the power supply, and then a few birds have returned, but as soon as it's re-initiated they hit the road.

E.g. last Saturday AM while doing some maintenance chores, I observed two sizable Osprey settle in on the mastheads of two adjacent yachts near the head of our basin during one of the 5 minute lull's in the replay of the bird distress calls (which last about two minutes each during the day-light hours). Within a few seconds of the commencement of the replay, however, both birds took wing and were soon "out'a sight!"

Best of all, in the 3 months Murphy's Bird Bane has been sounding off, I've only had to do routine deck washing to remove dust, wind-blown pollen etc. and only two or three bird droppings in all that time.

FWIW...

[shadowdancer]

I used a plastic owl and still had problems. bought a fake snake coiled it up and put it on the sail bag. seems to work well ,have had no birds stop at my boat since

[Saleen411]

i've tried rubber snakes on my dock...still have a few of them out there.

Phhhht, birds and otters ignore them. I think a great blue heron flew off with one of em.