Even if you love birds and animals in your yard, you probably don’t love the pigeons. Pigeons are clumsy, messy, and aren’t respectful of personal space. They’re more than happy to move into your yard and never leave, no matter how many times you chase them or let your dogs out. While a visiting pigeon is nothing to worry about, nesting and roosting pigeons are. Their feces quickly build up into huge piles that are acidic and can contain dangerous pathogens, and their nests leave you with huge piles of dropped sticks and half-dead insects. It’s not exactly a recipe for a relaxing place to spend time. If you’ve seen an increase in pigeons in your area, follow these three tips to keep your yard pigeon free.
- Block Roosting Areas
The first way to keep pigeons from moving into your backyard for good is to block off any areas where they roost. You can’t keep pigeons from sitting on your fences (without installing unsightly spikes your neighbors won’t thank you for), but they won’t ever choose to sleep there because it’s too exposed. Pigeons love ledges and will roost or nest there if they can. Block off any ledges, external fuse boxes, and air conditioning units, and make sure they can’t get into your garage or outbuildings, as once they find an enclosed space they can come and go from freely, they’ll stay for good.
You can block off these areas with bird spikes, if you don’t mind the look (don’t worry, they don’t hurt the birds), cover them with bird netting, or cover them up entirely with board or wire mesh.
- Use Scare Tactics
If you don’t mind the odd fake bird in your yard, you can try using objects to scare the pigeons away. Try natural bird scarecrows like plastic owls and birds of prey, a fake snake, or old CDs hanging from strings. If the bird scarecrow is just a mold and does not have any extra features, move it around the yard regularly so the pigeons don’t get used to it. This isn’t a long term solution but can help until a solid bird control plan is in place.
- Remove the Food Source
Do you feed the songbirds in your yard during the winter and spring? Do you feed any of your animals out there? Take a look at your yard and try to figure out why it is the pigeons love your yard over your neighbor’s. Pigeons are incredibly food-orientated animals, and so if there isn’t anything to eat, they’ll leave.
If you enjoy feeding songbirds, only do so in the winter months and use small birdfeeders that can’t support large birds, and don’t throw out loose seed. If you enjoy gardening, try pruning off deadheads when they die off in fall and winter, so the pigeons won’t come to eat the seeds. When you remove all food sources from your yard it will look a lot less attractive to the pigeons – especially if there’s nowhere to roost.
If you’ve done everything you can and the pigeons still won’t leave your yard alone, it’s time to call in the pros at Azex Pest Solutions. We effectively and humanely remove and deter pigeons from your residence, and clean up the mess they’ve left behind. If you need help making your guard pigeon free, don’t hesitate to get in contact with us.