I need help with a bird situation
By paidreader
@paidreader (5143)
United States
February 21, 2010 5:01pm CST
I have a very large tree in my front yard and it provides a place for birds to rest. I'm ok with that for the most part but I prefer that they not poop all over my vehicle which sits below the tree. When it's time to go to work each day there is always the possibility that the truck is not the target. Instead, if my daughter and I aren't quick enough, we get the splattered mess instead of the windshield. In the morning there can easily be over 30 birds and just the noise we make going from the front door to the driveway is enough to startle them. Needless to say startling them is not a good thing.
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on discouraging the birds from landing in this particular tree. I don't want to do them any harm but I am tired of the mess they make and having to dash to the truck before the bombing can commence. Any ideas?
5 people like this
9 responses
@GardenGerty (157671)
• United States
21 Feb 10
Some garden centers sell "bird tape" that is a holographic tape that shines and scares them. I have also heard of putting plastic natural looking snakes among the branches of the trees. A third solution I have heard is to tie the free CD's that you get on strings and hang them among the branches. I think after awhile the birds get smart about any one of these methods and return, but maybe you could rotate them and break the nesting cycle. Other than that, I would carry an umbrella, or find another place to park.
4 people like this
@chrystaltears (3392)
• United States
22 Feb 10
Those are some very good suggestions, how did you learn all of those? Have you had a run-in with birds?
@GardenGerty (157671)
• United States
22 Feb 10
I tend to attract young male cardinals around my house and they bash their heads on windows or try to attract other birds in the car mirrors and get eaten by the cats. The holographic tape was recommended by a garden center. My neighbors would not call anyone on us, we all get on well.
1 person likes this
@MagicalBubbles (5103)
• Canada
22 Feb 10
Garden Gerty has the right solution, you need to tie something shiny like a aluminum plate, same as we use for pies. Those work as Ive tried it at home. Birds wanted to nest near my a/c and it wasnt such a good idea, so I tied alum pie plates around it and they found another place to nest.
I sure hope you manage to have them move to someplace else. Oh and the reflective tape or alum pie plate wont harm them.
1 person likes this
@mysdianait (66009)
• Italy
22 Feb 10
I can't provide any sort of solution for your problem which you describe so vividly and I only just came to tell you that, in my opinion, that is a hilarious piece of writing. I can feel your disgust, I can feel how you enjoy having the birds there and wish them no harm and I get the full grasp of the miserable situation you are in ... but when I reached the last bit about the 'bombing', I'm sorry but I couldn't help but laugh out loud! 
...
...3 people like this
@paidreader (5143)
• United States
23 Feb 10
LOL, I see you still hiding a grin. Let's see if I can add to the humorous side of my bird situation a bit more. Depending on the season, these "bombings" can contain additional materials like large seeds. Imagine, if you will, what your every day run of the mill bird droppings would be like when they contain a hard seed about 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter. Now it's more like poop covered hail. Remember those 30 or so birds? They all flew over the same darn field of food before landing in my tree.
At other times of the year, a good rain could easily wash away the mess they make on the truck and a tissue or two could usually get it off of us. But that was just the regular splatter. Currently we are experiencing the heavy duty stuff. 
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
4 Mar 10
I would have said that removing the tree would be the best way to eliminate that problem or move your vehicle so that it is not under the tree. I do not have any trees over my car, but still birds poop on it. Those were interesting suggestions that you received. i use those decals on my windows of my home to prevent birds from crashing into windows. Do you provide birdfood for them? If you do, then not feeding them may tell them to move on elsewhere.
1 person likes this
@paidreader (5143)
• United States
4 Mar 10
Unfortunately we just rent the house we are in. The tree is huge so the owner would not want it cut down. We definately don't feed them but they appear to eat before they arrive.
How did the decals work out for you? I will be looking for holographic tape this weekend and hope to convince hubby to climb the tree to put it up. I'm thinking that if he could do at least the side that is closest to my truck they won't land on that side. Maybe they will fly away from the other side going the other way instead of crossing over my truck.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
21 Feb 10
Unless you want to remove the tree, there's nothing that you can do about the birds. Birds are going to sit in trees, and migrating birds are going to stop and rest in trees. The only logical alternative would be to park your vehicles someplace else. Sometimes there's not much that you can do about Mother Nature and her birds.
2 people like this
@paidreader (5143)
• United States
23 Feb 10
Sure there is. As the responses are starting to show, others have been able to persuade their birds to move elsewhere by making the current location undesirable in some way. No need to cut down the tree to spite the birds. 
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
22 Feb 10
You can hang some chimes in the tree. Also things that twirl in the wind. These things won't harm the birds in any way but it will discourage them from sitting on that side of the tree.
2 people like this
@paidreader (5143)
• United States
23 Feb 10
I hadn't considered wind chimes but that may work too. It is only one side of the tree that I prefer them not to use. Maybe a combination of the holographic tape and wind chimes would pursuade them to move to the other side of the tree. 
1 person likes this
@snoopyfan (1312)
• United States
21 Feb 10
The only thing I can suggest is calling the Humane Society or some wild animal rescue group. They may have ideas where you can remove the birds without any harm to them. For your car you can get a car cover on it. I don't know what else to tell you. The birds most likely have nests in there and may have a little family. You can also look on the internet and I am sure you can find some answers there. Good luck
@paidreader (5143)
• United States
23 Feb 10
Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately putting a cover over the vehicle will mean even more time under the disturbed birds and more possibility of the mess I am tryig to avoid. 
@BarBaraPrz (45594)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
22 Feb 10
Well, you could tie reflective materials to the branches to try to scare them off.
Or, you could fake going out the door, wait a minute and then go out for real.
Or, you could carry an umbrella...
1 person likes this
@paidreader (5143)
• United States
23 Feb 10
I am going to look into the holographic reflective tape as it may work best with our subdivision restrictions. If only I had a cat for situations like this. Then I could send it out first so it could scare them off several minutes before it was time for us to leave. 
1 person likes this
@sushie93 (1355)
• France
22 Feb 10
Maybe you can throw away some little foods like bread to attract them in another road...?
I had many birds on my balcon too since my brother start to feed them, now our balcon is their restaurant with many poop everywhere, they even accouple there and fight with each other xD, funny sometimes lol.
1 person likes this
@paidreader (5143)
• United States
23 Feb 10
I'm not sure if feeding them again would help. They seem to be fairly well fed on berries, seeds and grains before arriving each morning. I know they just want to rest before being on their way again but we scare them when we walk anywhere near the tree we have to go to work each day. 
@TAZNEM (656)
• Philippines
22 Feb 10
i think you should just build a roof over your car or park it in a garage. i dont know how to make birds go away. you can fumigate them but thats wrong because you would be killing them. so just have your own garage built or simply have your car covered everytime you park it. as for the noise i think you can endure that hehe=)
1 person likes this
@paidreader (5143)
• United States
23 Feb 10
We aren't bothered by the noise. It's the noise WE make that startles the birds, causing them to dump their foul load. Unfortunately our neighborhood has restrictions on carports and my truck won't fit in the garage because it's too long. This is why I am looking for alternatives to persuade the birds to land elsewhere.
