PRESS RELEASE: BirdXPeller Remote Controlled Drone
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BirdXPeller Remote Controlled Drone takes flight.
Bird-X introduces remote controlled model aircraft as advanced bird control method.
CHICAGO, IL, March 4, 2011—Bird-X, Inc., a leader in producing humane pest and bird repellent products since 1964, introduces the BirdXPeller Remote Controlled Drone. This NEW PATENTED technology keeps pest bird intruders away from golf courses, agricultural property and vineyards—even challenging environments such as airports. The BirdXPeller ‘drone’ system is a remote-controlled model aircraft that swoops down to scare and chase away pest birds, emitting natural sounds of hawk cries and bird distress calls as it buzzes the target pests in threatening maneuvers.
The BirdXPeller Remote Controlled Drone has been proven highly effective in scaring birds off—leaving them very reluctant to return to areas where they have been subjected to such terrifying attacks. Studies have shown that the best way to control birds humanely is to leverage their instinctive fears and threat-avoidance for behavior modification.
The Remote Controlled Drone uses the expertise of Dan Metz, model aircraft flyer, as well as Dr. Phil ‘Dr. Goose’ Whitford, a biologist with a lifelong interest in Canada geese—to create an aerial attack that combines the recorded alarm and alert calls from wild Canada geese and other specific species such as seagulls, blackbirds and starlings.
Recently, Dan Metz used the drone to rid the La Quinta Civic Center in California of unwanted ducks. The campus park was becoming infested with ducks, and the creatures were leaving messy droppings on walkways and feathers on the grass—they were even digging up the turf with their beaks. The BirdXPeller Remote Controlled Drone provided a safe, natural way to quickly reduce the number of ducks on the property.
View a video of the BirdXPeller Remote Controlled Drone in action at the busy regional Nashville airport: http://vimeo.com/14365129. This exciting new technology will provide Airport Wildlife Control with a new weapon for protecting aircraft from pest bird incursions and the severe risk of actual bird strikes.
For more information about Bird-X and other bird and pest control solutions, visit www.bird-x.com.
About Bird-X, Inc.
Bird-X is the leader in producing humane pest and bird repellent products, since 1964. We offer the most comprehensive line of bird control products that are eco-friendly, environmentally-safe, non-toxic, and non-harmful. Our bird deterrents range from state-of-the-art laser technology to ultrasonic/sonic bird control, goose and pigeon repellents, bird spikes, bird netting, animal sound repellers, and visual scare repellers.
For more information on our company or to order this product please visit www.bird-x.com or call Bird-X at (800) 662-5021.
Contact:
Chrissy Hansen, Media Correspondent
Bird-X, Inc.
Phone: 312.226.2473
Fax: 312.2262480
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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.
3D Coyote gets rid of pesky pond birds
5/5 Star MSN Shopping Review
I live on a small pond and while I do like some birds, they tend to return to the same area, year after year, with more and more friends. Eventually it gets to the point where something has to be done. I definitely wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt the birds but I wanted something that worked so I got this decoy. I am really surprised by how well it works because I’ve used other, similar, things like plastic owls and rubber snakes which the birds seem totally unaffected by. I think the difference is that this has a tail that is furry and when the wind blows, it moves. That seems to really convince the birds that it’s real and they don’t want to make a home there. I’m so glad I got this before spring, when the birds would ordinarily nest here and the babies would get imprinted with the location. I’ve been told that these types of visuals work even better when combined with other approaches like sound machines or sprays that taste bad so I might look into those if I ever notice that the decoy’s effect on birds is waning but so far it is working great!
By ‘OrganicBirdLady’
For more information about how keep geese away from your property using the 3D coyote, visit here.
Wrigley Field Strikes Out the Birds
Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs
Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, celebrated its 90th season in 2003. Located at the corner of Clark and Addison Streets on Chicago’s north side, the park has an illustrious past and present. Built in 1914, just two years behind Boston’s Fenway Park, Wrigley Field is the second oldest ballpark in the major leagues. Legendary home runs bounced and still bounce onto Sheffield Avenue in the residential neighborhood outside Wrigley’s right-center wall.
Wrigley Field got its name in 1926, when the Wrigley family of chewing gum fame bought the Chicago Cubs team. In 1937, the bleachers were added to provide more seating. The original scoreboard from 1937 continues to serve the ballpark, one of the last scoreboards in the majors where numbers are changed by hand. With its ivy-clad outfield walls and usually lush grass, Wrigley Field has attained iconic status as a real baseball park – the way baseball was meant to be played, in an open, homey, comfortable, natural setting. The design of the stadium puts the fans close to the action, enhancing the sense of personal involvement. Wrigley Field had no lights until 1988 – when the Cubs played their very first at-home night game.
Tradition and history embrace Wrigley Field and the much-loved Cubs team, whose diehard fans have always understood that the journey can be more important, entertaining and emotional than the outcome – especially during the Cubs frequent uphill seasons over the decades. When the Wrigley family ended its 65-year ownership of the team and sold the Cubs to the Tribune Company in 1981, no one dreamed of changing the name of the field. It’s here to stay. But there was a new wrinkle in 2003. As Wrigley Field prepared to play host to the usual array of National League champ wannabes, it also battled an unwelcome new pre-season rival: PIGEONS in its renowned upper deck.
Winning Series for the Birds
It isn’t only Cubs fans who love Wrigley Field. “Pigeons like to roost on the trusses that support the upper deck,” notes Paul Rathje, Director of Stadium Operations at Wrigley Field for the last six years. “This causes problems for the people seated below,” he says, tactfully understating the issue. Besides the lure of roosting in the structural beams, the pigeons are naturally attracted to the food purchased by the crowds of fans who fill the stands. A bird’s delight; a stadium director’s horror.
During the prior season, Rathje had tried a few tricks of his own to defeat the pigeons. “First, we tried using treated corn,” he recalls. The kernels contain a substance that is supposed to annoy the pigeons by disrupting their equilibrium. The effect, if any, was undetectable. Next, Rathje and his crew tried applying a sticky gel on the trusses to discourage landing. But, says Rathje, there were too many trusses and beams to get sufficient coverage. It was not a practical approach. They tried plastic owls to bother the birds – to no avail.
Now it was spring 2003, with the new season opening in May. Rathje concluded that it was time to call in the professionals to discuss a sonic device he’d heard about, manufactured by Chicago-based Bird-X, Inc., for deterring birds. Bird-X, in turn, referred Rathje to a bird-deterrence consultant, Kevin Connelly, General Manager of Premier Pest Elimination in Chicago.
Professionals At Bat
Wrigley Field
“Food service and pigeon excrement don’t mix,” Connelly states bluntly. Health issues abound. “When 40,000 fans come to an outdoor venue and you have bird droppings, the probability rises geometrically that someone will be affected by contaminants,” he elaborates. Also, he adds, the cost of cleaning up resistive bird residue on the seats and in the stands before and after each game is considerable. Connelly met on-site with Rathje, just weeks before the season opener, to assess the situation. Speed was of the essence; so was efficacy.
Connelly explained the options, including the installation of
extensive netting in Wrigley Field’s vast superstructure to restrain the birds from roosting. This would require much longer than two weeks to install properly. Even more to the point, it would break Rathje’s budget. Rathje preferred Connelly’s other proposal: installing ultrasonic devices to get the most bang for Wrigley Field’s buck, and the most coverage considering the expanses to be protected. The two men worked out a plan to install seven Bird-X Ultrason X units and seven Super BirdXPeller PRO units in the trusses under the upper deck and in the lower deck corners.
Double Play Against the Birds
The double whammy on the birds was deliberate and logical. As Bird-X President Ron Schwarcz explains, “The area to control was large enough to require several sonic units. We selected two different types of units to produce greater variety of sound. This would provide immediate results while helping prevent long-term acclimation, since birds don’t like surprises and unpredictable changes.” The Ultrason X product uses ultrasonic sound waves to repel birds and other nuisance critters.
The basic technology isn’t new; Bird-X incorporated it into its product line 40 years ago to deter birds in enclosed areas like warehouses and loading docks, where walls and roofs could magnify the impact of the sound. In a recent breakthrough, Ultrason X is the first device to take ultrasonic sound OUT of doors effectively. The second type of deterrence device, Super BirdXPeller PRO, pushes the sound much farther and is ideal for large, open areas. It works on the bird’s psychological state, as Ron Schwarcz explains: “The machine incorporates the birds’ own distress calls to repel the ‘usual suspects’ – pigeons, sparrows, starlings and other common pests.
Then we added the sounds of two predators, knowing that these cries would scare all birds universally.” For maximum effect, the Super BirdXPeller is programmable to produce random timing, volume and frequency. Connelly concurs. With 15 years of pest control experience, he concludes that these two products work better together than either one alone. “Also,” Connelly assures, “the devices don’t hurt the birds. It’s not an aggressive action.” This keeps the peace with animal lovers.
Season Opener in the Upper Deck
Connelly worked cooperatively with the union electricians on staff at Wrigley Field to devise a protocol for smooth supervision and installation. The big day came in late May 2003. When the Bird-X units were turned on, “The birds flapped out,” Rathje says. “About 90 percent of the birds left for good,” says Connelly. It wasn’t a total elimination, both men agree, but it forced the bird problem to fall within an acceptable tolerance range.
That was the goal, Connelly says, noting that realistic expectations and budgetary constraints are always factors in choosing solutions for large facilities. “We’re changing the habits of an animal,” Connelly continues. And sometimes that involves reasonable compromise.
For example, the sonic equipment at Wrigley Field is turned off during home games because it was felt that the audible portion of the sound would disturb the fans. Consequently, some pigeons return while the units are turned off. Immediately after the game, the units are turned on again, to good effect. It’s a compromise that works for Wrigley Field.
Come Out Swinging
Pigeon droppings in sports stadiums and other outdoor facilities are irritating, unsanitary, messy, smelly, repugnant, difficult to clean up, and a darn nuisance. Operations Director Rathje has advice for other facilities managers: Consider the various bird-deterrence alternatives, depending on the facility’s architecture, where the birds roost, and the expanse of the space affected.
Connelly agrees.
‘Then base your decision on the limits of your budget, the realities of the time needed for proper installation, and your tolerance level for effectiveness.” He reminds directors that a 100 percent solution can be prohibitively expensive and often is not necessary. From the professional’s point of view, bird deterrence pays for itself rapidly in reduced clean-up costs; but, says Connelly, the benefits of bird control go far beyond economics and into intellectual values of improved aesthetics, environmental safety and positive public relations.
You can’t put a price on those.
By R.W. Delaney, Business Writer
What The Heck Are Bird Spikes?!?
Have you ever shot a perplexed glance at an establishment, carefully focusing on those pointy and somewhat displaced thingamajigs that comfortably lie on the ledges? Those seemingly never-ending strips of prickled solid can be found amongst a variety of structures, ranging from personal homes to corporate empires. I suppose we should address these gizmos by their correct name—bird spikes.
Bird Spikes on Subway Sign
Bird spikes are used to prevent germ-infested, undomesticated birds from roosting in a particular area. They work by making the available area that birds are able to land on undesirable, forcing them to land elsewhere. Bird spikes can be placed on virtually any flat surface, and are commonly found in areas where birds are liable to come in contact with humans. They can also prevent miniature rodents from crossing a particular area.
Let’s face it, feral birds are as annoying as they are disease-infested. Their obnoxious calls are loud enough to invoke infuriation—and perhaps insomnia— onto an entire neighborhood. Their vile feces are contaminated enough to bring a gradual death upon an innocent victim. Their presence is enough to bring down the value and aesthetic appeal of a property.
No one wants filthy birds—accompanied by a heaping dose of detrimental ramifications—invading their property, correct? Wild birds need to be ridded from properties! But harming or killing birds is not a valid option! Not only is it illegal to do so in some places, but it is ineffective as well. Sure, one may receive instant “gratification” by harming the exact bird that made him become a raging insomniac, but how exactly would that prevent migratory flocks from roosting? It wouldn’t. Property owners who use humane solutions such as bird spikes are completely aware of this.
The next time you fix your eyes upon an establishment’s eye-invoking beauty, take into consideration the extent to which the property owners are saving you from a bird dilemma. Enjoy every non-feces-infested gasp of air while gazing at its non-bird-invaded scenic view.
If you are experiencing bird issues and wish to rid them from your property in an ethical manner, visit Bird-X.com for a free evaluation or Click for more detailed information about Bird Spikes.
Bird Spikes