By Carole Jorgensen
Birds are wonderful until they become roommates. Birds are starting to look for good neighborhoods where they can show off for mates and build nests. If you, like me, have had a territorial bird’s nest over your door so you had to wear a helmet and carry a broom to access your home, or had to listen to the percussive “music” of a woodpecker drilling into your expensive siding, keep reading.
Consider downgrading the appeal of your home by keeping food and water well away from your house. Birds like high places where they can watch for predators. Look for ledges, openings, and overhangs that can be sealed, plugged, or screened before birds find them. Chimney caps, wire, screens, and roof spikes can be effective items. However, birds are very creative and like to pull out your unsecured blocking material, which they may actually incorporate into their nests. Some roofing spikes are sized to deter large birds, but are perfect supports for small bird nests.
Deterrents, such as plastic owls, reflective material, or motion sensor lights, can work temporarily but birds quickly learn they aren’t threats, so plan to move them weekly. Scents, such as peppermint, can deter birds (and rodents). Wild Bird World recommends soaking cotton balls in a mix of seven drops each of peppermint and lemon oil in 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of water and placing them in potential nesting areas. There are also bird sticky repellent gels, which are non-toxic and last longer than home remedies.
Woodpeckers drum into noisy substrates to show their prowess and deter predators. Siding, metal, and utility poles can serve as excellent drumming platforms. The noise (and damage) can drive you crazy. Motion deterrents can discourage woodpeckers when hung by potential drumming sites. These can be constructed out of windchimes, recycled spoons, strips of foil, or old CDs. Even a cheap recycled plastic bottle can be repurposed into an effective bird deterrent whirlygig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXrNGg7DIOU
Ideally, you can plant more appropriate native trees and shrubs a bit away from your structure to provide a more inviting neighborhood for birds. If all else fails, start charging them rent.