Birds are a welcome sight until they begin to overwhelm your porch. What starts as a pleasant commune with nature quickly turns into an annoyance. Unpleasant bird droppings and damage to pecked surfaces are all too familiar evidence that birds have worn out their welcome mat.
You are surely looking for tricks to repel birds from landing on the porch, so hopefully, this post will help you achieve that goal. There are easy things that you can adopt to minimize getting all “fowled-up.”
Here are some techniques worth trying that will thwart the birds off your porch without harming them. (Learn How To Get Rid Of Rose Bushes)
Inspect Your Porch for Nesting Material
Birds will keep being attracted to your porch if the materials they need for nest building are present. Inspect the area for twigs, dried leaves, and any possible elements that birds may use for nesting. Observe what happens when your porch is devoid of this stuff and see if there is a difference.
Also, investigate your yard if there are tree branches that extend to your home porch. If you do, this is an open invitation for birds to hang out on your porch. Trim branches and allow sun that is more directly into your veranda.
The dropping smell will hopefully go away soon, too, as the bird poo becomes less on the porch. If there is a nest there already, contact a local wildlife expert to extricate it for your safety.
Look Into Repellants and Repelling Gadgets
You can go natural or electronic with this approach. There are many substances you can apply on surfaces that will repel birds from perching. Birds cannot stand citrus smells, and spraying it on your porch is a great way to thwart them.
It is also a win-win, as you deodorize your porch and drive away disturbing birds at the same time. Try the scent of lemon juice but dilute it in water. You could also look into formulas specific for turning birds away.
However, if you want a natural and non-toxic substance, the lemon option is hard to beat especially if you want to be sure the birds are not exposed to any toxicity. Squeeze some lemon into a bit of water. Use a water spritzer and spray like you would any air freshener.
If you go the gadget route, a few battery or electricity-driven devices give off high-frequency sounds targeted to scare birds. Place one of these near your porch.
A disadvantage to this is other animals also hear the high frequency. For instance, dogs and cats could also be annoyed by the sound. Such devices can be turned on or off manually or could use automatic triggers. (Read Do Deer Eat Sweet Potatoes)
Check Your Porch Lighting Fixtures
Porchlight fixtures can also be bird magnets. They emit warmth and thus are an attractive place to nest. Due to the gentle heat, it is also an ideal spot to leave their eggs for hatching. However, do not fret; you can still hang on to your favorite porch lamps.
One way to make a light fixture uninviting is to place gentle spikes, so they are uncomfortable for perching. There are a few products in the market that you could look into specially made for this purpose.
Wind Chimes
Wind chimes can also be surprisingly effective in warding off birds. They scare easily with the bell clanging sound they make when the wind blows or if a door opens or closes. There are also shiny chimes that give off reflections when light hits them. This also turns birds away from your porch.
Wind chimes are simple but effective and are musical to human ears. Some folks create a DIY chime stringing old CDs together. The bling character of CDs is also a turn-off to birds. This method sends away all sorts of bird species.
Speaking Of Reflections
Luckily, birds do not like reflective surfaces. As such, locate small but strategically placed mirrors on your porch as reflective surfaces to ward them off. Observe where the birds like to perch and how the sun or artificial lights hit the porch. Base your placements on what you discover.
Try adding mirrors to a wall if the light hits it directly. Just make sure it blinds the birds and not you or your family. This method works most of the time.
Sticky Surfaces Annoy Birds
Another way to get into a bird’s skin is to use sticky stuff on surfaces that permit it. Doing so will make it challenging for them to land or take off. It will also not be pleasant for them to perch if a surface is sticky. (Read Why Won’t My Peppers Turn Red)
There are currently a few products in the market that make use of this trick to repel birds. These formulations sometimes are colorless, so they do not become eyesores. If you are concerned about birds getting stuck, simply use a little by applying a thin film of the coating.
Always use a pair of gloves since some of these gels are really sticky.
In Conclusion
All of the mentioned methods will keep birds from staying on your porch. Hopefully, this will keep them away and help you maintain a much cleaner veranda. Also, keep in mind that it is illegal to remove active nests in most states. If our winged friends already make them, you cannot disturb them anymore.
