PROTECTING YOUR GARDEN AGAINST PEST BIRDS

It takes a lot of hard work, time and patience to grow a garden and it is very rewarding to enjoy sharing the beautiful flowers, fruit and vegetables with your family and friends.

The problem is birds love your garden too and pest birds can destroy your garden.

Without effective bird control measures in place, pest birds like crows, cockatoos, sparrows, indisn mynahs and pigeons can wreak havoc on your garden.

You may notice bites taken out of your berries, young seedings completely disappearing or the tops of plants chewed off, that’s when you know you have a pest problem. And they will feast on your veggies, grapes and stone fruits too!

Sometimes people are tempted to use poisons to control birds but this is often illegal. Poisons should also not be used as they can be ingested by pets or be hazardous to adults or children. Trapping is another option but will not stop other birds from invading your garden. Guns or gas guns should also be avoided as they can cause possible harm to pets and people including neighbours.

The truth is, unless you implement a good strategy for bird control, you really are growing a garden for pests to enjoy.

At Bird Control Australia, we always tell our customers that the more of the pest’s senses you attack (without harming the animal or bird) the better the deterrent effect.

Here are some great combination strategies which are also eco- friendly and humane.

Sound and visual scare deterrent combinations
Physical and sound deterrent combinations
Physical, sound and visual scare deterrent combinations

Sound and visual scare combinations include using either an ultrasonic or sonic device to attack their sense of hearing combined with a visual scare decoy. Examples of sound devices are the Yard Sentinel, Bird Xpeller Pro, Broadband Pro, Ultrason X or the Balcony Guard.

Examples of visual bird scares are items such as the Visual Scare Hawke, which is a full size replica of a hovering hawke or the Prowler Owl. Both of the decoys are not static and do move which is necessary as static decoys do not work. They give the birds the impression that they are ready to strike! Simply just move them around the garden from time to time.

Our Visual Scare Balloons and Terror Eyes are large vinyl balloons covered with lifelike reflective predator eyes. Pest birds take one look at these and fear they are going to be attacked by a predator. The balloons are UV and weather resistant and are the size of a beachball. Attach these to trees and fences.

The Holographic Bird Scare Ribbon Tape is another good visual scare that also makes a snapping sound in the wind when cut in small strips. It reflects sunlight and blows in the wind.

Examples of physical barriers are the Bird Busta Repellers, Bird Spikes, Bird Spider 360, the Solar Repeller or the Motion Activated Sprinkler.

The Bird Busta Repeller requires some wind for it to spin and you just need a little sun for the Motion Activated Sprinkler and the Solar Repeller in order to charge the solar panel.

The Motion Activated Sprinkler sprays water at high speed when the sensor is triggered by a pest.

Physical Barriers are excellent for keeping birds off the immediate surrounding area so combining with a sound or visual deterrent (or both) makes a very powerful combination.

Lastly, make your garden less attractive to the birds. Do this by removing easy access to water and food. This includes little pools that appear after rain. Seal off access to roosting and nesting spots and refrain from feeding the birds. As tempting as it may be to feed pretty birds such as lorikeets, once youve done that then you are at risk of loosing the battle against pest birds.

Every person’s Bird Control issues are different so please contact us for advice if you need to.