Catseye Pest Control

Birds, though often nice animals, can be amongst the worst of nuisance pests, especially for commercial property owners. Birds often choose to roost on signs or raftors of commercial buildings. This might not be so bad, except for the fact that they make a horrible mess with their nesting material, and worse, droppings. Pigeon droppings in particular can really accumulate and are not only unsightly, but a health risk to your employees or customers.

Pigeons have adapted well to urban environments. Most cities are full of flocks of these birds just looking for handouts. They often associate humans with food and are unafraid to flock closely to people. They are also unafraid to leave droppings everywhere (cars are obviously preferred spots), along with nesting material. The nesting material can clog vents and drain pipes, and cause potential fire hazards. The droppings and feathers can contaminate large quantities of livestock feed and food destined for human consumption.

If that's not enough, pigeons lack the common decency to rid themselves of parasite and disease before they enter our urban areas. These "flying rats" or "gutter birds" can carry or transmit: pigeon ornithosis, encephalitis, Newcastle disease, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, toxoplasmosis, pseudo-tuberculosis, pigeon coccidiosis and salmonella food poisoning. Pigeon parasites include a number of bugs, fleas, ticks and mites. Sparrows and Starlings often choose to nest in buildings. These birds are not as dirty as pigeons, but feces buildup can lead to structural damage from the uric acid in droppings, plus the bacteria, fungal agents and parasites in the feces also pose a health risk.

Woodpeckers are a nuisance when they decide to peck on your house instead of a tree. Woodpeckers hammer on trees for two reasons: in search of food and as a signaling device. The males repeatedly sound off to claim their territory (can't they just sing like normal birds? No, they just have to drum). Woodpeckers often find that a wooden house serves as a good place to make their noisy territory claim, perhaps due to better acoustics.

If your house has insects, then that gives woodpeckers another reason to peck away. Catseye has seen houses full of woodpecker holes. They can cause quite a headache with their noisy hammering and quite a lot of damage to a home.

Other, less urbanized birds such as seagulls, crows, geese, ducks and vultures can cause unwanted noise and droppings. If a bird isn't regularly nesting in an urban area, it can be hard to control, but there are ways.