Pigeon menace- Anybody knows how to shun them out?

Question

Well, there are many piegeons around my house and everyday they come, they sit and enjoy. Now the trouble is I end up cleaning their poo in my balcony. Trust me, they just stick on to the floor and you have to really scrub hard to get it off.
I do not want to hurt them, But please, please let me know if there is a harmless way of discouraging them from entering my balcony.
I do not want to spend money on putting mesh and it does not have aesthetic value. In fact it reduces the light into the living room.
If you know or have any innovative ideas, I would be really thankful.

Answer 1

I understand your frustration. I love pigeons and have bred them for many years, but wild ones can be a pain.

The plastic owls, etc., have a deterrent effect of about two days, then the birds get used to them and perch on them pretty much. If there is no way that you can physically keep the birds out, then I would suggest another possible idea. Go to a kite store. Specialty kite shops often have what I call "flapping wing bird" kites. Some of these are designed to look like hawks, gulls, etc. Get a couple of the hawk ones and post them onto stakes, etc., or from a ceiling, etc., so that they can "fly"

They need to be able to "fly" intermittently, either in a natural breeze or perhaps in a fan. I've suggested this method to a few people in the past and it's seemed to have worked. The sudden flapping of a "predator" spooks the pigeons and if it happens often enough (without any sort of schedule that they can get used to), they usually decide the "fear" isn't worth it and go somewhere else.

Now having said that, I hope you've also closed off places where they may be nesting, etc., so they don't have any urge to come back again.

Good luck -- and at some point when you see others suggesting this and charging for it down the road, remember I said it first :-)

Answer 2

It's a big problem in San Francisco and many places have put up pigeon spikes and netting. The pigeons acclimate to plastic owls and snakes so that's only a temporary fix. There's product known as Bird-X Birdproof gel that comes in tubes that fit into a caulking gun or the liquid which can be hand sprayed. Pretty easy to apply and not so noticeable. Expensive and probably not carried at your local hardware store, but I have seen it in a couple farm supply stores. Doesn't injure the birds and can be pretty successful. It feels tacky so the birds don't like it. Bird-X also has other products on their website to inhibit birds.

Answer 3

There is a metal plate made to place in their favorite roosting places. It is flat on one side and has point steel spikes on the other which are very close together. These really work and are use in cities where pigeons are a real problem, a lot like you have.

I searched the Internet using "pigeon spikes" and found tons of sites. Here are the first three:

http://www.birdbgone.com/birdspike2001.htm

http://www.birdguard.com/?OVRAW=pigeons%20spikes&OVKEY=pigeon%20spike&OVMTC=standard

http://www.nixalite.com/PDFs/PigeonSpikes.pdf

Answer 4

Get a couple of large plastic owls (most hardware stores carry them). Place them in clear view on your balcony. Owls are natural predators of pigeons and similar birds. This should do the trick.

Answer 5

You can purchase fox urine to spray outside in the areas they frequent. This discourages them and the smell goes away after a while. Some are scared away by the fake owls that you can buy, others think that it is just another perch.

Answer 6

try putting wind chimes up on or near the edges they dont like the movement or the noise

Answer 7

pidgeons reproduce so fast and are so messy... they actually are a health hazzard... I suggest you get a BB gun (this sounds harsh but they won't be missed)