The Pope’s Gold

The WhirlyBird repeller is mentioned in The Pope’s Gold, a novel by John Brewton.  An excerpt from page 53, “…Gus had examined the old netting which was placed over the vines to keep the birds away and declared them unfit for repair or service. Nick researched the problem on the internet. He became fascinated with what some grape growers in New Zealand had done to combat the problem by bringing in falcons! The article stated their crop losses due to birds had dropped to less than five percent. But he ruled out the possibility and kept researching. He finally found a device invented by a South Carolina lawyer called a WhirlyBird Repeller and ordered fifty of the weird plastic contraptions.”

Charleston lawyer and friend create device designed to repel nuisances

By Edward Fennell, The Post and Courier, Thursday, April 22, 2010

Charleston attorney Rob Turkewitz holds a WhirlyBird bird repeller like those he's installed all over the Lowcountry and sold worldwide. Powered by wind, the device generates ever-changing sounds and reflected light patterns that discourage unwanted birds from loitering on docks, decks, patios and cell towers; ravaging crops; and inadvertently flying into windows.

OK. Assuming all birds now have turned the page, it can be told: The WhirlyBird is NOT a peregrine falcon.

But birds that don’t know better apparently mistake a WhirlyBird’s wobbly twirling, reflected light patterns and oscillating, clacking sound patterns for the predatory falcon, according to the device’s co-inventor, Charleston attorney Rob Turkewitz.

Turkewitz, 50, of James Island and friend Bud Doty of Edisto Island, created their first “simple, safe and effective repellers of nuisance birds” about two years ago by cutting up plastic juice bottles. They experimented with a number of prototypes mounted atop poles, settled on a design and patented it. Turkewitz has since bought out his partner and has sold 2,000 WhirlyBirds locally and worldwide.

Now manufactured in Mount Pleasant and consisting mostly of clear, UV-resistant custom-made plastic bearing multiple images of falcon eyes, the WhirlyBird sells for about $50. Turkewitz said his wife, Deborah, includes a small bag of candy in Whirlybird shipments “because customer service is really important.”

WhirlyBirds are popping up all over the Lowcountry, on Coast Guard docks and private piers, and in vineyards and other crop fields. The device requires only the wind and sunlight to persuade birds to take their droppings and their appetites elsewhere, Turkewitz said.

“It’s very simple. The slightest breeze gets it going,” he added.

He said he tested the device’s durability by driving his car 75 mph with a WhirlyBird held out a window.

Turkewitz said the WhirlyBird came about from his and Doty’s efforts to repel unwanted birds from their docks. Fake owls and scarecrows and devices that emit sounds all eventually fail to work because “birds become accustomed to them,” he said.

The WhirlyBird wobbles somewhat as it spins, discharging ever-changing patterns of sound and reflected light. “It’s almost like a kaleidoscope,” he explained.

Some 50-60 WhirlyBirds are used to protect the 11 acres of grapes cultivated at Irvin-House Vineyards on Bears Bluff Road on Wadmalaw Island, according to vineyard manager Jay MacMurphy.

WhirlyBirds, he said, keep away crows and other birds and even raccoons that would feast on the grape crop. “We put them up every 40 feet, in a grid pattern,” MacMurphy said of the WhirlyBirds.

He said WhirlyBirds are mostly held out of the vineyards until mid-August, when the grapes begin to ripen, because the vineyard benefits in spring and most of the summer from bluebirds. The business provides homes for bluebirds, which eat lots of insects that can damage the crop, he explained.

MacMurphy called the WhirlyBird “ingenious,” especially considering it “started from a Gatorade bottle.”

“They are very effective, or we wouldn’t spend the time putting them up if they weren’t,” he added.

MacMurphy said he uses WhirlyBirds at home, where he has ponds, and the devices “keep the egrets from eating the fish.”

Arthur Jenkins, senior pastor at St. James Episcopal Church on Camp Road on James Island, said a WhirlyBird has been the answer to the church’s ministry center’s prayers. For almost five years, he said, crows and other birds had been regularly flying into a large panel of glass panes near the top of the center.

“It had been very distracting, especially during prayer or singing,” Jenkins said.

Since a WhirlyBird was installed recently outside the glass, few birds find their way to it, he said.

And birds aren’t the only creatures that should be concerned.

“I’ve got something in the hopper for squirrels and deer,” Turkewitz said.

For information, visit whirly birdrepeller.com or call 762-3154.

Giving Back to the Community

WhirlyBird Solutions is the lead sponsor for the 44′ ketch, First Light in its effort to raise money for Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy (CCC) in Charleston Race Week. Formed in 1990, CCC has provided comfort and support to thousands of individuals and families who have experienced a tragedy. First Light’s goal is to raise $10,000, and they’re asking people to become an Honorary Crew Member by donating $25.00 to CCC. Donors can contribute on-line at www.coastalcrisischaplaincy.org and click on the Race Week icon, or send a check made payable to “CCC – Race Week” to the following address:

Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy
P.O. Box 21833
Charleston , SC 29413

You can follow First Light’s fundraising and race progress on Twitter at: twitter.com/SailingForCCC

Innovation takes flight for inventive Charleston duo seeking cleaner docks – City Paper

How to Avoid Big Bird and Big Bird Droppings

By Dan McCue

Those unsightly blotches. That embarrassing mess. The inopportune gifts dropped from the heavens above.

When it comes to the presents our winged neighbors leave behind on a daily basis, we all grumble on our way to the car wash or back to the closet, but few contemplate the situation long enough to divine a solution.

Frustrated dock owners Bud Doty and Rob Turkewitz have become inventors and entrepreneurs with their WhirlyBird Repeller, a device designed to shoo birds away and keep them away.

“We both owned docks that had major problems with birds, and had both tried numerous devices to repel them, including plastic owls, snakes, and electronic devices,” Doty says. “The problem with these devices is that while they may work in the short term, in time, the birds become acclimated to these methods and eventually return in full force.”

To overcome this basic flaw, Doty and Tuekewitz knew whatever they came up with would have to employ constantly changing sounds, vibrations, and reflections to continually keep birds off guard.

What the duo came up with is a solution of almost Steve Jobsian elegance.

Molded from clear plastic in the shape of a peregrine falcon, the WhirlyBird relies on wind power — “Even the slightest breeze,” say its inventors — to make it spin, wobble and vibrate in an astounding number of ways.

What’s more, Doty says, its UV-resistant, clear plastic design allows it to throw off an ever-changing pattern of reflections.

“As a result, birds never get used to it, and they stay away,” Doty says.

Doty and Tuekewitz first tested the Whirlybird on their own docks, finding that for best results they needed one device for every 12 by 12 foot area they wanted to protect. Soon, word-of-mouth had them in their respective workshops, fashioning Whirlybirds for friends and associates.

Not too much later, the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Charleston wanted to test the WhirlyBird for its own purposes.

“The challenge birds pose for the Coast Guard is primarily related to the solar panels used to recharge the batteries on these navigational devices,” said Tuekewitz. “The bird droppings on the panels would cause outages, and that could be a real problem for boaters.”

Fourteen months later, the Coast Guard concluded the device was effective.

The portable device is also helping agricultural businesses increase their yield by reducing the amount of fruits and berries which are lost to winged predators.

The two men founded WhirlyBird Solutions to meet demand for the product, which now sells for $49.95. Doty and Tuekewitz have also secured two patents and a PCT to ensure international protections on the device.

They’ve partnered with Mulitplastics in Mt. Pleasant to manufacture and market the bird repeller worldwide. In keeping with the hometown and do-good pride of the endeavor, South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation is employed to assemble and package the device for delivery.

“Initially a lot of people told us that to make this work as a business, we’d have to manufacture the WhirlyBird overseas,” Tuekewitz said. “But we didn’t want to do that.”

Promotion of the WhirlyBird also took a local and decidedly tongue-in-cheek turn last week, when Doty and Tuekewitz hosted back-to-back, admission-free showings of the Alfred Hitchcock classic The Birds at the Terrace Theater. Savvy marketing, but it’s also a reminder to be thankful that all we’ve got to worry about is the poop.

Whirlybird Solutions Movie Night at the Terrace

Thank you to everyone who attended our movie night at The Terrace Theater on March 26, 2009, and a special thanks goes to everyone who made a donation to Save the Light (www.savethelight.org). We also thank the Terrace Theater for showing “The Birds” and giving away free tickets at our event. We look forward to the Terrace Theater’s Alfred Hitchcock movie festival this summer! Finally, congratulations to the lucky raffle winners who won free Whirlybird Repellers and tickets to the Terrace Theater!