Birds In The News
Bird problems appear in the news more often than we might realize. In fact, a few of the more high-profile news stories in the past few years have been bird-related:
In 2007, more than 500 people were reported sick, and at least eight died due to salmonella contamination in over 400 popular peanut butter products. It may have been the largest food recall in FDA history. Investigators determined that a leaky roof was to blame for the sanitation breach, and that—as birds are known to carry a variety of infectious diseases, including salmonella—it was highly likely that pest pigeons were the vector.
In 2007, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed due to weak and rusted steel beams. After closer inspection, it was discovered that the structure’s framework was covered with corrosive pigeon droppings. When bird droppings are not quickly washed away, they dry out and turn to salt and ammonia; when this later comes into contact with rainwater, small electrochemical reactions take place that speed up the rusting process.
Bird strikes cost the airline industry alone around $800 million each year. Who can forget the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ that occurred in January of 2009? Shortly after taking off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Flight 1549 was struck by a flock of Canadian geese, losing thrust in both engines and forcing pilot, Captain Sullenberger, to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River. Fortunately, all 155 passengers survived.
Pest birds can be a nuisance and an inconvenience—they can also cause problems that put human beings in serious danger. It’s important to bird-proof your home and/or your business to avoid these issues. Visit www.bird-x.com to find bird and pest control products that are safe, green, eco-friendly, non-toxic, and non-harmful. Bird-X has solutions for every problem and every budget.
Written by Chrissy Hansen—Media Correspondent for Bird-X, Inc.
Birds, Buildings, and Solutions
by Dave Kogan
Bird poop on property
What do buildings, houses, parks, hotels, restaurants, airports, golf courses, all have in common? They are all major targets for pest birds. Face it, they’re everywhere. And you cannot avoid them. Even when cities and town post signs that explicitly say “DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS,” people still sit there and feed the birds. Why? Are they pretty? Sure. People love birds and there are so many of them in so many different colors that they’re hard not to like…except when they leave a foul mess in your building, or hang around when dining alfresco, or when they take over a window ledge so you cannot open your window for fear that they’ll fly inside and take up residence. What then can you do about pest birds?
Well, many people love birds until, well, they don’t. That is when the birds make a terrible mess and ruin your property that one stops liking those adorable yet messy abominations. How un-adorable are they? Take for example the Butler County Courthouse in Hamilton, Ohio. Birds were roosting on ledges all over the building leaving quite an unsightly mess. The problem came crashing to reality when a cornice on the structure began pulling away from the building in 1988. A maintenance crew removed the cornice to find over 300 pounds of bird feces. “Conditions were deplorable,” said the purchasing director of Butler County. “Bird droppings were a foot thick on some ledges.”
The mess generated questions in regards to public health and was a public relations nightmare for the county. A few of the courthouse employees were diagnosed with Histoplasmosis, a bacterial infection caused by a fungus found in bird droppings. The county installed some bird preventative measures at a cost of nearly $100,000. Then the building was refurbished in 1997 and the architects found Bird-X’s 100% recycled polycarbonate plastic, nearly invisible spikes which now cover 11,000 linear feet of ledges, porticos and round windows for the 4-story building…and there have been no more birds or their feces since.
Electronic sonic bird deterrent installed on roof
That’s just one scenario. In Davenport, Iowa, pigeons were bombing a local branch and sidewalks surrounding a US Bank with their nasty droppings. The bank was spending thousands of dollars every week power washing the exterior walls and sidewalks. The bank manager went on line, completed a search for getting rid of pigeons and found Bird-X. They decided on using an electronic sonic bird deterrent. Now there are no birds leaving their droppings or even roosting or nesting by or on the bank.
So what can you do as a homeowner, business owner or unfortunately, a resident in Magna who are under attack from barn swallows? Wildlife control experts will tell you to move the nests or trap the birds and release them elsewhere. To make matters even more challenging, there are often restrictions on conventional control methods. Harming the birds is often a problem. Facility managers are often reluctant to kill birds due to sensitive public relations and image concerns (we’re still reading about the 2,000 geese being culled in New York near JFK airport a week later). Other options which do not kill, but are still visible to the public, such as traps or possibly glue boards, may not be permissible.
Ultrasonic bird repellent sound device
Yet there are ways to get rid of the birds without harming them. A sound deterrent works great inside or outside. This, of course depends on the area you’re seeking to protect. For instance, patrons at an outdoor eatery may not want to hear the distress cries or predator calls of birds every hour or more. So how does a restaurant combat birds? There are ultrasonic sound devices. That means that the sounds are played above that of human hearing. Patrons can eat in peace with the noise of birds or the mess.
If the bird problem is on or inside a building, like with the restaurant, facility managers can try sound deterrents that will readily disperse the birds. However, many will tell you that the best defense for any building ledge, roof or outcropping would be to use plastic or stainless steel spikes. Or a special bird proof gel or spray that includes methyl anthranilate which comes from the skin of concord grapes.
The spikes, sprays and gels would work well for residents in Magna, Utah as well as everyone else. Those residents might also benefit from sonic bird repellent machines to scare off their swallows. Building owners may also want to try bird netting to block entry to a specific area or visual scare deterrents like scare balloons, prowler owls or three dimensional coyotes to scare off birds before they even get close enough to find an area desirable.
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Synergestic bird control
The main thing is to make an area inhospitable to birds. While birds might become accustomed to one approach, combining two or more to work in tandem (for instance using a sonic device and polycarbonate spikes) will greatly increase your success rate. With so much easy to use technology developing in the realm of bird control, every situation has a solution just waiting to be found. And clearing a bird infestation can make a huge difference in terms of economics, morale, and most importantly, public safety. If the choices seem to be overwhelming or you don’t know where to start, there are always bird control experts who are happy to help.
For more information about bird control and bird control products, contact Bird-X at 800.662.5021 or visit the website at www.bird-x.com.
Irri-Tape successfully deters pigeons from balcony
5-star Customer Product Review
We live in an apartment on the East China Sea in Japan – barely a 1/2 mile from the water’s edge and the pigoens [sic] love our balcony! This tape is wrapped to hang along our balcony and shines reflectively against the sun and makes noise against the wind. Works great! We’ve tried a fake bat, owl, snakes, even WD-40 on the balcony – you name it! Our balcony has been pigeon and poop free for a year now.
By R. Gray from Malaysia
Get rid of birds that roost on your balcony by applying Irri-Tape® shiny bird deterrent tape.
What’s Wrong with Poisoning Pigeons?
There have been quite a few baffling incidents in which birds “mysteriously” fall from the sky in metropolitan areas. After crookedly plummeting from the sky, the birds would lie on the ground, flap erratically and then cease from further movement. A closer glance at the hectic sight would reveal groups of disoriented birds convulsing as if traumatized prior to an inevitable death. Given the circumstances of these environments, it is not unusual to presume that these birds have been victims of senseless poisoning.
Pigeon poisoning is an ineffective, irrational, and inhumane method of bird removal.
People waste time and money on pest exterminators. Poisoning birds is useless in the long run. A common misconception is that after a few pigeons digest the poison and die, the others will “learn” to stay away. Pigeons are not the exactly the smartest creatures. Quite frankly, the poisoning method serves as no communication to the bird flock. For all they know, the death of their flockmate could have been incidental. As long as the space is desirable—meaning that it provides food, shelter, and a foundation for breeding—the birds will continue to inhabit the area. If a sufficient amount birds from a given flock die from poisoning, more space is created. The extra space is like an open invitation for more birds to inhabit the area, making it just as populated—if not more—as it was before hard-earned money was thrown into the pockets of the pest extermination company.
The poison can also affect involuntary bystanders. Witnesses to this cacophony may suffer from erroneous panic or blatant disgust for the “culprits.” The haphazard use of poisoning can easily attack the nervous system of other animals. Even humans can have adverse side effects, as in the horrific case of the Casey family in 2000.
I am no radical animal rights activist; I am simply a human who is capable of expressing logical compassion towards another organism. Poisoning pigeons is a redundant, sadistic crime. No organism deserves to suffer from a slow, painful death.
Before you resort to poisoning pigeons out of sheer desperation and helplessness, consider safer alternatives. Bird-X, Inc. has established a name for itself in the humane animal control industry since 1964. All Bird-X products are effective deterrents alone, but if stubborn cases require additional attention, a combination of Bird-X products (including Bird Spikes) will work synergistically to create a truly undesirable roosting environment.
U.S. Bank Uses Bird-X Repellers to Solve Pigeon Problem
Electronic Repellers Help Get Rid of Birds
Here’s a great news clip featuring yet another success story where Bird-X repellers are saving a customer time, money, and public image.
[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2110776718413472740[/googlevideo]
The news story features sounds from our BirdXPeller Pro or our Broadband Pro bird control systems.