Who knew our feathered friends can be such a nuisance? I have several bird feeders in my yard off the deck strategically placed so I can watch them enjoying their feast I provide for them. What’s bothersome is the mess they leave behind like bird poo. Not only is it unsightly, it is hard to clean off my deck, porch, vehicles…sigh. A small price to pay in my personal opinion. But what do you do if you have a bird who is building a nest in your porch light? This is definitely not ideal to your fixture, although, birds dig the fact your porch light provides warmth for their eggs and there is plenty support to support her nest. With fling feathers, twigs and bird droppings, it can be quite the mess on your porch. The following tips from our experts here at Summit and Doityourself.com will help deter and move the birds along to build their nests elsewhere.
1. Place a rough object on top of the lights
Place a rough object on the light fixtures so that the surface is not flat anymore. Birds need a flat surface for their nests, and making this simple change means that your porch lights will no longer be an ideal nesting location for them.
2. Hang a plastic owl near the porch light
Operating under the same kind of logic as a scarecrow in a field, birds can be frightened away from your porch if you hang a plastic owl somewhere near your light. Keep in mind that in order to successfully trick the birds, you must commit to the charade and move the owl around pretty often to give the illusion that an actual predator has taken up in the area. If you do not move the plastic owl, the birds will eventually discover that it is actually fake and innocuous, and they will continue to nest on your porch lights without fear.
3. Hang wind chimes above the lights
Hang a set of wind chimes above your porch light fixtures to obstruct the bird from reaching the porch lights. Both the presence of a physical obstruction and the noise from wind chimes can deter birds from settling in a spot.
4. Don’t feed the birds
Stop feeding the birds. You may enjoy feeding bread and seeds to birds, but that’s one clear reason that birds are flocking to your porch area. If you stop giving them food, the birds may eventually stop coming around and building nests on your porch and light fixtures will seem less and less appealing.
5. Install appropriate bird spikes
Bird spikes are very effective if you want to keep birds away from your porch lights. Put the bird spikes on top of your light fixtures. Birds will never come to rest on them again, but be careful about what kind of birds you’re trying to avoid. For example, if the bird spikes are intended for larger birds, smaller birds will keep coming and the spikes will not stop them. Make sure you purchase spikes of the appropriate size and function. Make sure that the website or store you’re buying from is offering a spike size that will actually meet your specific need.
6. Guard the lights with cats
Cats are the bird’s worst enemy. You can get the help of one or two cats by leaving them on the porch to guard your lights from birds. If your bird problem really is that consistent, chances are a cat will notice soon enough and act as a living security system.
7. Call a professional
All but three species of birds are Federally protected and cannot be touched. You can be fined up to $10,000 for this mistake.
