Three Simple Things You Can Do To Keep Pest Birds Off School Buildings

If your school is like most, it has open courtyards, outdoor eating areas and overflowing garbage cans and dumpsters. Birds love to loiter around these areas and seek out any food scraps left under lunch tables and benches. And when they see an opportunity, they’ll dive in. After they’re stuffed, they’ll “let loose” some sizeable bird droppings. These droppings can end up on playgrounds, water faucets, lunch benches, tables and walkways. Besides being unsightly, bird droppings can carry any of 60 know diseases, including salmonella and ecoli. Children can also slip and fall on fresh bird droppings, a liability for any school district.

Chances are, you’ve put up with pest birds all year long. Fortunately, there are three simple things you can do to keep them away. And there’s no better time to implement these effective bird control solutions than during the holiday break. So act now while maintenance crews are on site to keep bird pests from flocking to your school.
Scare Birds Away with Repeller 360°

This simple bird control device sweeps pest birds off rooftops, AC units and other flat areas using sustainable wind power. Ideal for keeping larger birds like pigeons, crows, gulls, cormorants and raptors from landing, Bird-B-Gone’s Repeller 360°’s two long arms each have end sails covered with reflective “predator eyes.” When the arms spin in the breeze, the sweeping action and predator eyes combine to make an effective pest bird deterrent. Self-sufficient and easy to set up, the Repeller 360° needs no electrical power or wiring. It rotates continuously in the wind, covering a 6-foot diameter to harmlessly convince bird pests to move on.

Pest Birds Hate Bird Jolt Flat Track

Give pest birds a lesson they’ll never forget—a “hello” jolt of electricity when they land on your school roof, ledge or sign. Bird-B-Gone’s Bird Jolt Flat Track “educates” birds but won’t harm them. It’s like getting a shock when you touch a doorknob after walking on the carpet. The shock convinces birds to avoid any lofty areas of your school. Bird Jolt Flat Track is the #1 Specified electric track by architects and government agencies. Its patented “anti-arcing” design provides an added level of safety. It’s also crush proof and will continue to work even if stepped on by window washers or building maintenance crews.

Bird Spikes Create No-Landing Zone for Bird Pests

Whether you choose plastic or stainless steel, Bird-B-Gone Bird Spikes simply won’t allow birds to land or perch on or near them. Steel bird spikes feature rows of stainless steel spikes embedded in a U.V.-protected polycarbonate base. You can also go with Plastic Bird Spikes, which come in white, tan, gray, black, brown, brick red and crystal clear--to blend in with your school’s color scheme. Plastic spikes are made of rigid U.V.-resistant unbreakable polycarbonate, which makes them tough and economical. Neither type of bird spike will harm birds or installation crews.

Grackles Invade Krogers, “Boom Cannon” Offer Temporary Relief

The Kroger supermarket on West 43rd Street in Houston has been invaded by thousands of noisy grackles. The big black birds have created a nuisance for the past couple of years, buzzing customers' heads, creating an ear-deafening din, and leaving unsightly droppings in their wake. The live oaks and sycamores surrounding the store’s parking lot provide an ideal perch for the birds. The store tried scaring away the annoying birds by setting off "bird cannon" on the roof, but the loud booms worked only temporarily, setting off car alarms, causing some people to call 911, and prompting police cars to roar in with sirens screaming and lights flashing.

Big birds like grackles can be a problem, especially if they’ve chosen your property to nest in. While you may be tempted to use lethal means like poisons or pellet guns, such methods are only marginally effective, as more birds will simply arrive to take their place. Here’s what today’s bird control experts recommend to solve a grackle problem:

Bird Chase Super Sonic

Ideal for discouraging all manner of birds from large open areas, the Bird Chase Super Sonic device broadcasts bird distress and predator calls every 10 to 15 minutes. You can add more speakers to cover up to five acres. And the Solar Bird Chase Super Sonic can broadcast distress and predator calls for as many as 22 types of birds, so your store is protected against grackles, pigeons, crows, and many other birds. And unlike ultrasonic systems that emit sounds birds can’t hear, birds definitely respond to Bird Chase Super Sonic’s intimidating sounds.

Plastic Bird Spikes

Bird Spikes won’t allow birds to perch or roost. They’re ideal for keeping birds like grackles off rooflines, signs, parapet walls, lighting fixtures and other elevated structures. More economical than steel spikes, plastic bird spikes come in a variety of colors—including crystal clear, brick red, light grey, brown, black and tan—so they’ll blend in with your store’s color scheme. The best plastic bird spikes are made of unbreakable UV-protected polycarbonate to last for years outdoors. High quality plastic bird spikes feature a flexible base that allows them to bend around curved surfaces. These spiked strips also have pre-drilled holes or glue troughs for easy installation. The spikes come in two-foot sections and 3-, 5- and 7-inch widths to provide wider and wider areas of protection. The bases of the spiked strips are only 1.5 inches wide, which makes them easy to install on narrow surfaces.

Install bird spikes on clean surfaces

Before installing any bird spikes, make sure the surface is clean and dry. Remove any loose rust, peeling paint, bird droppings, feathers and nesting materials. Use commercial disinfecting cleaning agents to keep from being exposed to any of the 60 known airborne diseases carried by birds. If the area is heavily contaminated with bird droppings (wet or dry), use proper eye and respiratory protection.

Bird Control to Keep Birds Out of Rain Gutters

by Alex A. Kecskes

If you’re wondering why your rain gutters are becoming increasingly clogged  and your roof is beginning to leak, it might be because you have bird nests in your gutters. You see, when rain gutters are blocked, rain water will overflow under roofing tiles and shingles, and eventually cause leaks. Roof leaks can be expensive to repair, so an ounce of prevention is easily worth a pound of cure. Unless you install effective bird control measures to keep birds out of your rain gutters, you’ll continue to have gutter and roofing problems.

The thing is, once pest birds of any kind decide to roost and build their nests in your rain gutters, their scent (bird droppings, feathers, dead insects, etc) will draw other birds. And so it goes until your gutters are completely blocked and overflowing whenever it rains. These nests can also breed disease, for birds can carry and/or transmit any of 60 known diseases—including Histoplasmosis and West Nile Virus.  If your rain gutters pass over your bedroom window, you’ll also have to deal with the noise of nesting birds every morning.

The solution, of course, is to implement an effective pest bird deterrent to keep birds out of your gutters. And the best time to install bird proofing measures is before birds arrive. One proven way to keep birds out of your gutters is to install Gutter Spikes. These specialy engineering devices are ideal for preventing large birds from occupying your gutters.

The best gutter bird spikes have adjustable “C” clamps at the base, which makes them easy to mount to the lip of any size gutter. The spikes are sold in 6-foot and 50-foot packs, and they come in 2-foot long sections, each 4-inches wide. Properly attached, these spikes prevent pest birds from negotiating a landing in the gutter. Birds will simply move on to more hospitable landing zones. The rugged stainless steel spikes are virtually invisible and will offer years of pest bird protection.

Before installing bird spikes, be sure to clean out your gutters. Remove any loose rust, peeling paint, bird droppings, feathers and nesting materials. To be on the safe side, use commercial disinfecting cleaning agents to prevent exposure to the airborne diseases carried by birds. It’s also a good ideal to use eye and respiratory protection if your gutters are heavily packed with nests and bird droppings.

To install gutter spikes, use the three aluminum “C” clamps attached to the base of each two-foot section. Adjust each clamp with a thumb screw. Loosen the screw, fit the clamp over the lip of the gutter, then tighten the screw to hold each strip in place.

If you’re concerned about these spikes harming birds, don’t be. The best bird spikes are blunted at the tips and won’t harm birds or pets. They’ve been approved by a number of humane groups worldwide, including the U.S. Humane Society and PICAS (Pigeon Control Advisory Service).