Any good birdscaring tips?

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What actually works?

Arriving at the boat this weekend we were faced with just a carpet of bird poo. Clearly the local Starlings or Swallows or whatever they were had been gorging on berries, then sitting on the boats in the yard to do their business. It was incredible. Most of the boats were just plastered with guano.
Over the 2 days it took us a total of over an hour to clean it all off, with plentiful use of cleaner...

I've now gone and bought a plastic owl, who has taken up residence on the boom, much to the amusement of the rest of the crew, but I have to be honest I'm not expecting great things....

Has anyone found a solution that actually works?
 
I've seen birds sitting on plastic owls :nonchalance:

As for a solution that works, black thread stretched a few inches above the places where they perch will do the job, but may not be very convenient or easy to arrange.

At least in Portsmouth Harbour, the gulls and cormorants have seen it all before, so none of the usual things do more than provide entertainment for them. A good air rifle might help :p
 
Moving your boat!

I had a swing mooring on the Exe and was covered in guano, moved a few hundred meters upstream, due to the channel moving, and the problem went away.
 
Stemar said:
I've seen birds sitting on plastic owls :nonchalance:
Click to expand...

That was rather my fear...

My hope is that this seems to mostly be a seasonal thing, with migrating birds gathering in the bushes behind the yard for a few weeks to eat berries before they fly south, so with a bit of luck they won't be there long enough to become accustomed to whatever bird scaring device works...

And they must be just sitting on the deck, the whole boat was absolutely covered, I've never seen anything like it...
 
Sandy said:
Moving your boat!

I had a swing mooring on the Exe and was covered in guano, moved a few hundred meters upstream, due to the channel moving, and the problem went away.
Click to expand...

We're drysailed, so it seems to be luck where in the yard you get put... Though it's fair to say it seemed fairly universal...
 
Thread and other perch deterrents don't stop them they even hang off the vertical bits of the rigging. Vibration helps so a tight line like a topping lift that sets up a thrum/hum throuhout could help but might be just as annoying to anyone on board or nearby..
 
Maybe an owl that's not made of plastic? Somewhere or other (QAB?) I saw a hawk-shaped kite flown off a thin pole which looked pretty convincing to me, though I was not the target audience.
 
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You have several choices: electronic, model predators, kite, laser pointer.


Static owls and snakes are OK, but the birds become habituated unless the models are moved.

Electronic sound scarers are good, and you might form a community scheme for a small area

https://birdgard.co.uk/home/20-bird-gard-pro.html

Larger versions used here to keep woodies off winter wheat.


Then plastic versions of a sparrow hawk. I have one in the garden. Small birds are kept away, but pheasants don't seem to mind .

https://www.roofingsuperstore.co.uk...MI8tuWsI3V5AIVRbDtCh0SxwJnEAQYASABEgLAqvD_BwE

Should be easy to leave it hanging from the backstay.


Finally the kites. Really not usable in a marina with tall masts.


I have it on good authority that some people use a small laser pointer, and associate it with a noise or water pistol. Needs care if on an aircraft approach to Southampton.
 
Robin said:
Thread and other perch deterrents don't stop them they even hang off the vertical bits of the rigging. Vibration helps so a tight line like a topping lift that sets up a thrum/hum throuhout could help but might be just as annoying to anyone on board or nearby..
Click to expand...

In the past I have used something called 'Hum Line' which seemed to deter the local gulls. Its obviously a bit of a hassle tying it on and removing and does actually emit a humming noise but maybe worth a go. Not very expensive if I remember correctly.
 
several rubber snakes dotted over the deck seem to be quite effective. We moved to a new marina early this year and found our boat covered with bird poo in the early part of the summer. The neighbouring boats on either side were clean and each sported rubber toy snakes on the foredeck and coachroof. We found a source on the internet, bought three or four and the boat has stayed pretty clean ever since. I had never heard of it before, but other boat owners we have spoken to since have said "Oh, yes, didn't you know that?"

Don't go for anything ridiculously big - another boat near ours has a python that is about five feet long - the birds take no notice of it!
 
Quiddle said:
Maybe an owl that's not made of plastic? Somewhere or other (QAB?) I saw a hawk-shaped kite flown off a thin pole which looked pretty convincing to me, though I was not the target audience.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the owl can be given a head with a wind vane? Then it could swing round through improbable angles at random, like a real owl. (I have been watching an endearing Little Owl a lot lately, but I don't think it scares anything away! See https://www.facebook.com/groups/wildmaidenhead/permalink/2437903862971149/)

Mike.
 
chriss999 said:
Plastic owls are fairly commonly used.
I sailed into Topsham the other week and was surprised to see an owl whose head rotated, seemingly following me, as I passed.
Scared me.
Click to expand...

The owl I bought has a rotating head on a spring... Mildly freaky...
 
chriss999 said:
Plastic owls are fairly commonly used.
I sailed into Topsham the other week and was surprised to see an owl whose head rotated, seemingly following me, as I passed.
Scared me.
Click to expand...

We have a neighbour who complained about our feeding the birds - prat, why did he buy a house surrounded by trees then .

I desperately wanted to get one of those Owls with an IR seeker and put it on the fence so it watched him going up and down with his lawnmower, but the boss wouldn't have it. :)
 
Football sized yellow inflatables with mirrors that spin and swing. Kept birds from digging up my lawn - apparently they don't like the mirrors which reflect like big eyes.

Plastic owls are notorious for working for a few days before familiarity breeds contempt.
 
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