By Alex A. Kecskes
Pest birds can be a real nuisance for today’s building managers. If you manage a building or other commercial property, you’ve undoubtedly experienced many of the problems birds can cause.
Birds have a nasty habit of making themselves at home in and around rooftop AC units, ducting, ventilators and antenna structures. The same holds true for ledges and parapet walls. Birds just can’t resist perching on these areas and nesting near them. It’s safe, and chances are, there’s a dipsy-dumpster below that’s usually filled with garbage they can feast on. Pest bird nests and droppings can block skylights and solar panels, which you have to keep clean.
Without effective bird control measures, you’re continually faced with expensive and repetitive clean-ups. These clean ups can get complicated because bird droppings can contain any number of diseases. Clean up crews must be properly protected, which raises the cost of cleanups.
So what can you do to protect your building from this expensive nuisance? Plenty.
Today, you can avail yourself of a number of humane and highly effective bird control devices.
You could start by installing a tried and true bird deterrent called a Bird Spike. Ideal for use against medium to large size birds like pigeons, bird spikes are easily installed on rooftops, parapet walls and ledges. They get the job done because birds just can’t get their wings around them to land. And they’re easy to install because they can be glued, nailed or screwed onto most surfaces. So you won’t need a special crew to mount them. You can also choose from a number of bird spike options: rigid U.V.-resistant unbreakable polycarbonate spikes or high strength, durable stainless steel. The less expensive poly bird spikes are ideal for use around RF or cell phone antennas, since they won’t interfere with radio frequency transmissions.
If the owner of the building you manage is concerned about the appearance of bird spikes, you can assuage his or her concerns with the fact that bird spikes now come in various colors--including white, tan, gray, black, brown, brick red and crystal clear. You can even get bird spikes with a non-reflective metal finish. For best bird control, the spiked strips should be installed so that no gaps remain for birds to squeeze through.
Another effective bird control measure is No Knot Bird Netting. This netting is specifically designed to exclude pest birds from the areas they like most—around AC units, ducting and other rooftop areas. The best bird netting is fabricated of flame resistant polypropylene, chemically inert and highly resistant to many chemicals and temperature extremes. Good netting won’t rot, absorb water, or mildew. When buying netting, look for products that are ISO 1806 Protocol Mesh Tested and U.V. stabilized.
For buildings that are vulnerable to pigeons, sparrows, starlings, crows and gulls, No Knot Bird Netting will keep them out. You can order this netting in a number of stock sizes and custom cuts--including 2- and 3/4-inch mesh. The netting is light, handles easily and is easy to install. Once again, if your building owner is concerned about the aesthetics of this bird control approach, the netting comes in several different colors--including white, stone and black.
If your building has a problem with bats, you could look into getting some Bat Netting. This heavy-duty netting keeps out these annoying birds without harming them. The best bat netting is U.V. protected with a 3/8-inch mesh. You can get it in different sizes too--typically 10’x10’, 25’x25’, 50’x50’, and 50'x100'.
Bird netting is easy to install and relatively maintenance free. When installing bird netting, make sure you properly seal off any openings around the edges, nooks and other areas where pest birds could work their way in.
