Birds frequently bring joy to people with their songs, plumage, activities, and as pets. However, there is a downside to birds and their close proximity to people. Health hazards such as avian bird flu, salmonella, and psittacosis can be contracted from birds and their droppings. Damage to property frequently results from messy and acidic bird droppings, nesting, and pecking. Now add to this list, ornithophobia, a fear of birds.

If you have seen the film, The Birds, by Alfred Hitchcock, then you can visualize the menacing, darker side of birds. Understandably, sufferers of ornithophobia may fear attacks by birds or be uncomfortable around birds. Gulls will fearlessly and aggressively fly towards people to grab food. Birds frequently exhibit little fear of people and can appear threatening and menacing. Even the sound of birds’ wings or the fear of diseases can send sufferers into life-limiting anxiety attacks with very real physical symptoms.

Yet, birds are widespread throughout the world, in rural and urban areas. It is nearly impossible to go a single day without encountering birds. What is a sufferer to do? As with any physical or mental symptoms, a sufferer should discuss his or her condition with a doctor or therapist. Another useful tool would be to keep birds away from your personal areas, such as your boats, docks, or other outdoor areas with bird repeller devices, such as the WhirlyBird Repeller. Perhaps keeping birds off boats, decks, docks, or other outdoor areas will help alleviate symptoms of ornithophobia.

Transmission tower owners frequently receive complaints, suffer outages, or incur damage due to roosting and perching birds, including turkey vultures and black vultures. Understandably, tower owners want a simple, safe, economical, and effective deterrent to roosting and perching birds, such as the WhirlyBird Repeller.

Figure 1 American Black Vulture

Why are the vultures roosting in towers?

They are not necessarily after food.  Vultures are highly social animals, and they prefer to roost in large colonies.  Areas that are conducive to this include the stereotypical dead tree, cell phone towers, antennas, and even rooftops, chimneys, or porch coverings.

Should I get rid of vultures?

Any solution to roosting and perching nuisance birds has ecological considerations. The Turkey Vulture Society states that vultures do perform a valuable service by consuming carcasses of dead animals. The feces of the turkey vulture contain strong acids that kill many of the bacteria commonly associated with bird feces.  Because of their diet, these birds are able to kill harmful bacteria and viruses with their stomach acids, and halt the potential spread of disease from rotting carcasses.

However, the damage resulting from the large amounts of “whitewash” and even vomit produced by a vulture roost is a valid concern for the property owner. Further, there is no safe way to poison a vulture without unintentionally targeting a large number of other wildlife, as well as possibly attracting more scavengers, such as coyotes or foxes, or even attracting a replacement vulture population.

Are vultures protected by any laws?

Legally, turkey vultures and black vultures are protected by the US Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Act.* This protection means that their eradication by shooting with a permit is only legal if:

a) nonlethal methods have been attempted, and

b) they have been identified as a true nuisance to the community (I.E. causing property damage, health risks, etc)

*Be sure to check with your local state or federal wildlife office before undertaking any eradication or relocation activities to make sure you comply with all statutes, regulations, and permits.

With these considerations in mind, what should the property owner do to discourage, but not harm, nuisance birds and vultures?

Efforts should emphasize variety, timing, and persistence to prevent the vultures from becoming habituated. An effective bird control strategy will utilize random and unpredictable effects to discourage pest birds. The WhirlyBird Repeller is a visual and auditory repeller. A steady wind, such as at the top of a tower or antenna, will cause the WhirlyBird Repeller to spin, produce disturbing sounds, and reflect light in constantly changing patterns. When installed 6-8 feet above where the nuisance birds are roosting or perching, the WhirlyBird Repeller will continue to prevent habituation and keep vultures away from transmission towers and antennas.

WhirlyBird Repeller installed on cell phone tower

There are many different bird deterrents on the market of varying effectiveness. Please be sure to talk to a representative from a bird control product company to learn what will work best for your tower.

Arden, Clemson University Chapter, Students Helping Honduras

Typical dinner of rice, beans, egg, and plantains

I usually write news, helpful tips, and installation suggestions about WhirlyBird Repellers and how to keep and scare birds away from your boats, docks, decks, solar panels, cell and communication towers, but this time I would like to share more personal news. As a small family business, we try to know our customers as much as possible, after all, you are all important to us. Now, I’ll share some news about us with you. Our daughter, Arden, is a college freshman. She is on Spring Break now, but instead of being home, she is far away in the city of El Progreso, Honduras, helping to rebuild an elementary school for eight days with the Clemson University Chapter of Students Helping Honduras, after fundraising to go on the service trip. She is working hard, having lots of delicious, home-cooked feasts, and not too tired after working all day to still play soccer with the beautiful village children and salsa dance! We are so proud of Arden and can’t wait to see more photos and hear all about her trip. I hope she will return to El Progreso next year, and continue with the work. Thanks for indulging a proud parent! Perhaps you, or someone you know, is interested in a service trip.  For more information about Students Helping Honduras, please visit www.ceciskids.org

If you need to get rid of  nuisance, pest birds, we generally recommend installing WhirlyBirds in open areas, at least 6-8 feet above the area you wish to protect. If you have questions about your particular situation, please fee free to contact us.

Please be sure to follow all installation instructions for your own WhirlyBird, particularly cementing parts as directed. We did not glue this WhirlyBird in our test, and would not want yours to blow away!

Here is the link to Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hvuStfq7rQ

My company, Universal Tower Services provides site maintenance and management for the telecommunications industry.  Since 2011, I have installed many WhirlyBird Repellers on communication towers throughout the Midwestern states where roosting birds were a problem and resulting in complaints.   Notably, I found the WhirlyBirds to be an effective solution to the bird problems the tower owners were experiencing – they kept the birds away!  Experience has shown me that at least two WhirlyBird Repellers per level gives optimal results.  Based on my experience, I strongly recommend this product for use on communication towers.  The WhirlyBird Repeller does what it is supposed to do, no doubt about it.

Thank you for these helpful remarks. If your company or tower is bothered by destructive, nuisance birds and vultures, we can help, just give us a call.

Plagued by seagulls on their roof, Charleston Yacht Club in Charleston, South Carolina installed a WhirlyBird Repeller for a creative, yet unobtrusive solution to keep birds off their roof. Stringing a line between two PVC poles allowed them to utilize the eye-bolt on top of the WhirlyBird. This installation gives more movement to the WhirlyBird, while allowing it to spin and sway freely in the breezes off the Charleston harbor. The random spinning and sliding of the WhirlyBird keeps birds from becoming acclimated to its presence. As you can see, no more birds perching on the roof of the Charleston Yacht Club, thanks to their creative installation.

We’re also happy and relieved that Ed and his boat were unscathed by Hurricane Sandy, he encountered a little flooding, but suffered no damage. In case another strong storm is predicted, please remember to bring inside your WhirlyBird Repeller to avoid loss and prevent damage.

While we all enjoy beautiful tropical birds, if you are bothered by the more common nuisance variety, please keep WhirlyBird Repellers in mind. WhirlyBird Repellers keep birds off boats, docks, communication towers, and outside areas of all types where roosting and perching birds create messy and unsanitary conditions.