Got Birds? Tips for Keeping Your Gutters Clear of Nesting Birds

Birds Really Are Amazing Creatures…

Nesting Birds: In many ways, birds are some of the most amazing creatures in the animal kingdom. For starters, birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs, and they’ve actually been around since the Jurassic. With their hollow bones and aerodynamic structure, most birds are well-designed for flight, and birds are also the only animals covered in feathers. Birds are diverse & well-adapted, come in all sizes, forms, & colors, and can be incredibly intelligent. Their songs and calls can be quite striking, too!

…But They Don’t Belong in Your Gutters!

But if you’re a bird lover or bird watcher, there’s still one place you don’t want to see birds build their nests: inside your gutters! Why? Because a bird’s nest can clog up your gutter, and a clogged gutter can result in serious damage to your home’s roof system and other infrastructure.

How? Well, all the moisture your roof collects has to go somewhere. Mounted gutters and downspouts do a great job of conducting water off of your roof and away from your home’s foundation. That is to say, gutters do a great job whenever they are able to flow freely; a clog resulting from a bird’s nest can easily throw a wrench into the entire system.

A bird’s nest can dramatically slow down the flow of water in your gutter. Add some accumulated leaves or other debris, and you can end up with a total blockage situation! In this circumstance, water can quickly spill over the gutters and do some real damage to your windows, siding, and foundation. Water can back up onto the roof and do damage to your roof’s support structure, too.

Tips for Keeping Your Gutters Clear of Nesting Birds

So yes, birds are wonderful and amazing! But at the same time, you really can’t afford to have them nesting in your gutters. So what can you do about it? Are there some safe and humane ways of addressing the problem of gutter-nesting birds? Yes, there are!

Here are a few tips you can try:

Ø  Put up a predator decoy

Visual scares can be effective at warding away many species of birds. Their eyes are trained to immediately recognize predator birds, so a well-placed decoy can lead birds to bug out in a hurry. However, a static decoy won’t fool the birds forever, so you’ll have to change its position and move it around from time to keep the birds from catching on. However, you should be aware that some homeowners associations don’t allow the placement of bird decoys.

Ø  Place some rubber snakes

Don’t like the aesthetic of having a large, plastic hawk, owl, or some other bird of prey standing guard over your roof? There’s another lower-profile option you can try, and this one isn’t outlawed by most HOAs, either. Of course, we’re talking about rubber snakes. They’re relatively cheap to buy, and there may even be an extra rubber snake or two hanging around in your children’s toy box.  While not all birds are afraid of snakes, they are afraid of seeing snakes near their nests, as they know that snakes are a threat to their unborn chicks. You’ll probably want to place more than one around your gutter area, and you’ll also need to figure out how to attach them so they won’t blow or wash away.

Ø  Use a bird repellent

Just as there’s mosquito repellent, there’s also such a thing as a bird repellent. No, really. It comes in a spray, and it also comes in both the gel and granule forms which can be applied wherever you want to ward off birds. Bird repellents are typically scent-based, making birds just uncomfortable enough that they don’t want to nest within the immediate area. Bird repellent can get a pretty thick and nasty feeling, so you’ll probably want to use gloves when applying. You may have to reapply multiple times over the course of the bird’s breeding & nesting season, as well.

Ø  Use a high-pitched sound deterrent

Don’t want to have to fool with any liquids or chemicals? You could also try a  sound-based bird deterrent. Some systems seek to mimic audible predator sounds, while others can feature high-frequency sounds which can’t be heard by humans. With either approach, you’ll need to be able to mount the speakers strategically close to your gutters, with enough speaker coverage to include the entire gutter system.

Ø  Release the Bird Scare Attack Spider

This may sound like a joke, but it’s actually something of a novel approach to warding off birds. Many birds are actually afraid of larger spider species because they are known to prey on small birds and their eggs. Ready to release your own Attack Spider? This large, animatronic spider is programmed to detect both sound and movement. When a bird sets off the detector, the spider drops down its mounting line and frightens the bird away. In order to make it work, you’ll just need to figure out a way to mount your Attack Spider above your gutter surface. You’ll probably have to install more than one around your gutter perimeter, too.

Ø  Physically trap & relocate the bird(s)

If you can’t scare them, trap them. Granted, trapping birds isn’t necessarily easy, but it is another somewhat humane approach you can try. It will require a fair bit of time and effort on your part, though. After you set and bait the trap, you’ll need to check it regularly. Once you catch a bird (IF you can catch it), you’ll then need to transport it somewhere else for a safe release, and then just hope it doesn’t find its way back to your home. Probably not your best solution, honestly.

Ø  Try fashioning & mounting your own steel mesh gutter covers

If you can’t repel the birds, you can try fashioning your own physical barrier for keeping them out of your gutters. DIYers have been known to try cutting some steel mesh (also known as hardware cloth) to fit, and then placing it over their gutters. These homemade gutter guards can help to keep birds, leaves, and other debris out of your gutters. However, they don’t look as nice as professional-grade Gutter Guards, they’re not nearly as effective, and debris can still accumulate and clog on top of the mesh.

Ø  Have some gutter guards professionally installed

If you’re looking for a permanent, low-maintenance solution to your bird problem, having some gutter guards professionally installed is really your best bet. Not only will true gutter guards prevent both birds and rodents from nesting in your gutters, but they also manage to keep out leaves, twigs, and other debris while still allowing water to flow through freely. And here’s another beautiful benefit – you’ll never need to clean out your gutters by hand again!

Conclusion

We hope you find these tips to be helpful as you look to protect your gutters from the threat of nesting birds! And if you’re looking for the best gutter & gutter guard solutions in NC & VA, Skywalker Windows & Siding has you covered. They fabricate & install custom seamless gutters, and they also install the best gutter guard products from leading makers. Give them a click or call today, and let their helpful team show you the Skywalker difference!

About the Author:

David composes for points like Home Improvement, Kitchen stylistic layout, Garden or travel-related themes furthermore; he has an enthusiasm for the metal structure industry for over ten years, Kylo has become an accomplished structure expert in this industry.

He will probably assist individuals with his huge information to help them with his best recommendations about various Home Decors, for example, Doors Replacements, Siding, Windows Replacement, siding replacement, and business structures.

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