Effective Bird Control for Town-home and Condo Owners

by Alex A. Kecskes

Chances are, if you live in the city and lack effective bird control measures, your town home or condo will have a pest bird problem. Birds love to perch, gather and roost on a balcony, patio area, awning windowsill or rooftop (if you have a top unit). They’ll peck at your screens and damage your cloth awnings and umbrellas. Bird droppings will collect on your balcony, your plants, and your balcony furniture. Before long, you’ll have a real mess on your hands. Fail to remove these droppings and any items made of cloth or plastic will deteriorate and eventually rip apart.

Yes, birds are easily frightened away, but they come back the minute you leave. So unless you stand on your balcony and wave your arms or clang pots and pans 24/7, birds will return. And they’ll return in larger flocks. Because the scent of bird droppings, nesting materials and debris will attract more birds.

So how can you keep pest birds away from your townhouse or condo? After all, you don’t own the entire building, so large-scale bird control measures may not be allowed by your homeowners association. Here are two proven effective bird deterrents you should consider:

Red-Tail Hawk Decoys

These decorative red-tailed hawk decoys are barely noticeable by humans. Yet most pest birds fear them and will quickly get the message: “a predator is just waiting you eat you.”  Result: pest birds will simply move on to someone else’s balcony. Hawks are the natural predators of most birds and they do their hunting during the day (not at night when most birds are taking a nap). When choosing a hawk decoy, it’s best to go for quality and realism. While they have little birdbrains, birds are not dummies. They can spot a cheap phony bird in a heartbeat. Also, look for decoys fabricated of heavy-duty plastic, which will allow them to stay realistic looking after several rainy seasons and hot summers. The other thing to keep in mind is to move the decoys around and reposition them every week, lest birds get used to them.

Sonic Bird Deterrents

Your average bird has supersensitive hearing. It’s to give them the earliest possible warning that danger is near. Bird control experts were aware of this fact when they developed Sonic Bird Deterrents. These devices reproduce and broadcast previously recorded distress and predator calls that create a sense of urgent alarm in birds. The sounds generated resemble normal bird sounds to humans, so you don’t have to worry about neighbors complaining.  One popular sonic bird deterrent can generate distress and predator calls for 22 different species of birds, so it pretty much covers any bird problem you may encounter. The best sonic device will include a built-in speaker, a volume control and the ability to turn itself on or off at night.