How To Keep Birds Off The Patio

The spring and summer months are excellent for bird-watching. As the weather warms up and migratory species return, it's not uncommon to enjoy light birdsong while out on the patio or while tending to your home garden. However, while songbirds can bring pleasant sights and sounds, the warm months can bring trouble: Birds on the patio can present a nuisance or – in the case of pest birds like the European starling or English sparrow – a health hazard, if a large flock of the birds arrives. Luckily, a number of options exist to keep birds in the garden and off of the house.

The easiest ways to keep birds from setting down where they shouldn't involve taking control of what birds are attracted to your property, and controlling where the birds can and cannot land. To prevent flocks of starlings and sparrows, the food in a bird feeder can be switched out, avoiding suet and corn in favor of safflower seeds, whole peanuts, sunflower seeds inside the shell and nyjer. Cleaning away loose and fallen feed can discourage birds from setting down, and placing feeders away from the patio or deck can help you keep birds off the patio. Anti-nesting spikes can be placed along roofs and drainage pipes, as well as on tree branches, if desired. Bird netting can also be used to prevent entry to potential roosting places in gazebos and other lawn structures. If necessary, shock strips can be placed along deck rails to prevent landing on those surfaces. Statues of hawks and owls can be placed in certain areas to scare birds from the area at night in particular.

If birds still congregate after the basic steps have been taken, it may be worth using more advanced avian management techniques. The strongest of these come in the form of sensory deterrents, which use refracted light and sound to keep birds away from the area. Reflectors will disorient the birds as they fly and prevent them from landing safely, and chemical treatments can scare birds away for an extended period of time – though this may scare away songbirds as well as nuisance birds. In the same way, sonic deterrents that broadcast bird repellent sound can result in a wide variety of birds leaving the area. These can be used to great effect to prevent flocks of birds from nesting on and around your patio, as they will blast bird distress cries or high-frequency sounds that hinder flock communication.