How to Keep Birds Off of Homes and Businesses – Pigeon Abatement

Many people don’t think of birds as pests other than bird droppings on their car or patio furniture. However, birds can be quite destructive causing millions of dollars in property damage every year.

Maybe even more surprising is that they are a source of several diseases. Let’s take a closer look at what makes birds pests. 

Bird Prevention Methods Table

Bird Species Can Damage Homes and Businesses

Bird prevention step	Why it helps
Remove food sources	Reduces the reason birds return to the property.
Eliminate standing water	Makes the site less useful for drinking and nesting.
Clean droppings and nesting debris	Reduces contamination and recurring attraction cues.
Block access to sheltered areas	Helps prevent nesting in vents, drains, gutters, rafters, and ledges.
Avoid relying on one deterrent	Birds can adapt when the pressure is predictable or incomplete.
Use behavior-based prevention	Makes the site feel unsuitable for landing, roosting, or nesting.
Monitor high-risk zones	Helps catch returning activity before it becomes a bigger problem.

Birds Species are Destructive

Bird droppings are highly acidic which can eat away paint, concrete, roof coatings, and metal. This greatly reduces the useful life of these assets. Not to mention their feces attracts other pests such as cockroaches and flies.

Bird nests block drains, gutters, and vents resulting in water damage and in some cases fires and possible carbon monoxide issues. They can ruin the aesthetics of your structure by creating holes which allows other pests access.   

Nuisance Birds can be Vectors for Disease

Birds themselves are vectors for disease. They carry ticks, fleas, mites, and lice which cause viruses The ones associated with pest birds are St. Louis Encephalitis, Western Equine Encephalitis, Meningitis, New Castle’s Disease, H1N1/Bird Flu and West Nile Virus.

Additionally, bird droppings are very harmful when the spores become airborne causing fungal infections. The most common being Histoplasmosis, Cryptococcus, Candidiasis, Sarcosporidiosis. 

How to Deter birds?

Discouraging birds from landing on your structures in the first place is the best way to get rid of them and avoid disease and damage that they cause. Like any pest, birds seek food, water, and shelter. Elements that can attract pesky birds include bird feeders and shiny objects. By eliminating these factors, birds are likely to relocate somewhere else.

However, sometimes this is not as simple as it sounds, especially when it comes to shelter. 

Why Businesses Need More Than Basic Bird Deterrents

Businesses often need more than basic bird deterrents because commercial sites have larger structures, more exposed surfaces, and more recurring landing zones than most homes. Birds may target rooftops, ledges, signage, loading docks, parking structures, HVAC areas, warehouses, and equipment zones.

Commercial property teams can also review Symterra’s approach for commercial and retail facilities where bird activity can affect customer areas, rooftops, signage, and maintenance costs.

For commercial properties, bird activity can create cleaning costs, safety issues, surface damage, clogged drains, product contamination, and repeated maintenance calls. Long-term prevention works best when the deterrent plan addresses the structure layout, bird behavior, and the areas birds keep testing.

Bird Deterrent Methods

Bird Spikes

A bird control spike, also known as an anti-roosting spike, pigeon spike, or roost modification, is a device consisting of long, needle-like rods used for bird control.

Bird Netting

Bird netting or anti-bird netting comes in a variety of shapes and forms, such as those for smaller or larger birds. You can install bird netting on any flat surface, such as roofs or fields to prevent birds from reaching certain areas.

Bird Lasers

Bird laser systems use random intervals of red and green laser combinations to create an environment to scare birds, forcing them to search for different landing areas.

Bird Gels

Bird gel is a sticky repellent used to prevent birds from landing on horizontal surfaces. Bird gel is applied to areas where birds are landing. Birds nest where they feel safe and comfortable. When they are bothered by the sticky feeling on their feet or lose their nesting materials to the goo, birds will move to find a more comfortable spot.

Depending on your budget and level of expectation they may be a good fit for your application.

Why One Deterrent Is Rarely Enough

Birds adapt quickly to single deterrent methods. Spikes may stop perching, but not nesting nearby. Gels lose effectiveness as dust builds up. Lasers and visual scare devices often work temporarily until birds learn there is no real threat. This is why bird problems return even after deterrents are installed. Long-term control works best when deterrents prevent landing altogether and remove the sense of safety birds associate with the structure.

Learn more about how Symterra’s bird deterrent system works to support behavior-based prevention rather than relying on one short-term deterrent.

Technology to Deter All Bird Species

The latest technology for this issue is electromagnetic deterrence. This innovative system helps prevent birds from landing on your structure in the first place. It uses a specifically tuned frequency that affects how birds judge speed and distance, making the protected area difficult for them to land on without causing harm.

This is unique in bird control in that it directly targets a bird’s physiology rather than relying on a tactile response. With this physiological approach it means the bird would evolve past the technology making more effective than other bird deterrents. Here is a link to the technology in action. 

See how Symterra Pulse supports long-term bird deterrence for commercial buildings and complex structures.

For more background on system performance, review Symterra’s efficacy study.

Given the many bird deterrents on the market it is important to contact a bird control professional for recommendations.

Need help keeping birds off a commercial property? Request a Symterra site recommendation to find a long-term deterrent plan for rooftops, ledges, signs, warehouses, loading zones, and other high-risk areas.

Frequently Asked Questions About Keeping Birds Off Homes and Businesses

What is the best way to keep birds off a building?

The best way to keep birds off a building is to remove attractants, block access to nesting areas, and use a long-term deterrent strategy that makes landing, roosting, and nesting difficult. Commercial properties often need more than one deterrent because birds can adapt to incomplete coverage.

Why do birds keep coming back after cleanup?

Birds keep coming back after cleanup because the structure may still provide shelter, height, food access, water, or safe landing zones. Cleanup removes the mess, but it does not remove the reason birds chose the site.

Do spikes, netting, lasers, and gels work for bird control?

Spikes, netting, lasers, and gels can work in certain situations, but they often have limits. Birds may move to nearby untreated areas, adapt to scare devices, or return when the deterrent weakens. Long-term control depends on full coverage and behavior-based prevention.

How do businesses prevent recurring bird problems?

Businesses prevent recurring bird problems by identifying high-risk landing, roosting, and nesting zones, removing attractants, choosing deterrents based on structure layout, and monitoring whether birds return to untreated areas.

When should a business call a bird control professional?

A business should call a bird control professional when birds repeatedly return, damage property, create cleanup costs, affect customer areas, block drains, interfere with equipment, or create sanitation and safety concerns.