Birds are fine when they're flying around in your yard, but it's too much when they fly onto your porch or into your house. Once they're attracted to your porch, birds can build nests in the rafters or leave droppings all over the ground. Luckily, there are steps you can take to address your issue with birds on your porch.
The first step is prevention. If you have bird feeders, birdhouses, or birdbaths, move them farther away from your porch. This will put some space between you and the birds. Don't leave food out for birds to be attracted to. This will take away one of the main reasons birds hang around your porch.
The next thing to address is if birds are building nests inside your porch. If birds nest in your porch, it's going to be more difficult to get them to leave. Make it a priority to block off areas birds can nest with bird netting or bird spikes. Bird netting can also be used to block off entrances that birds would enter your porch through. Also, keep twigs and leaves out of your porch, which birds can use as nesting materials.
Bird netting is best used as a nest preventative measure. If birds have already built a nest inside your porch, depending on the species of bird that is nesting, it may be illegal to move the nest yourself or make any changes. You may need a permit or to call in experts to get the nest moved. Check local laws and regulations, as well as the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1918 in the United States, which protects almost all birds except for pigeons, starlings, and sparrows.
Your roof as a perching ground is another reason birds might be congregating on your porch. Bird spikes can be used on ledges to prevent birds from landing. By installing bird spikes, the birds will no longer have a place to land and will thus have to find somewhere else to congregate.
Another option to keep birds off your porch is sound or visual deterrence. Sound deterrents involve sending out high-frequency pitches that humans don't hear but birds avoid. Ultrasonic devices are available from bird control companies as well as online. Visual deterrents involve objects like scarecrows. These include actual scarecrows as well as devices like fake coyotes or predator eyeballs. Visual deterrents can work for a period but need to be moved or the birds will get used to the devices and ignore them.
For smaller bird problems even devices like wind chimes or hanging up reflective CDs can scare birds away from your porch, and are often more visually appealing.
If you have a bird problem, we can help. AviAway professionally installs bird control solutions for all bird species. We have 30+ years of experience in bird control and have performed work for companies like Amazon, Rite Aid, and the U.S. Postal Service. Click here or call 844-247-3373 to request a free bird control quote.
We also offer free bird control consultations. Click here to set up a free consultation and talk with one of our bird control experts about solving your bird problem.