Its that time of year when the winter hangover of frosty mornings has cleared, the daily showers of spring have gone and for many of us its a chance to clear some of that grime from our cars and have them looking their best. Unfortunately the birds appear to be aware of this too. All too many of us have experienced the frustration of giving our car a good clean and polish to make the most of the sunshine, only for a pest bird to fire its droppings at our gleaming paintwork. Unfortunately there's no real concrete evidence as to why it seems that birds like to poo on clean cars, however we do know that there are environmental factors that can influence where they drop their mess, such as parking in areas where birds like to perch and nest like trees, walls and near guttering.
The Damage Bird Poo Does to Your Car
The damage that bird guano causes to cars is all too well known by car owners. Over the years car manufacturers have developed their paints to be more resistant to bird poo, but unfortunately the effects can still be seen. The damage caused by bird droppings was always thought to be due the acidic lime, but in recent years its become apparent that the true damage is caused by changes in temperature after the bird mess is on your paintwork. When the paint on a car is cold it hardens and it softens in the heat (as is the case with most things), Once bird muck has landed on a car an increase in temperature causes the paint to mould to the bird dropping, and when it cools this moulding effect causing the paint to dull. Ideally bird muck should be removed as quickly as possible with a damp cloth, preferably wearing disposable gloves to save coming into contact with the guano itself, and then disposing of any cloths, gloves and disposable cleaning products as soon as possible, as guano can carry many diseases. Quickly removing the guano will reduce the chances that a stain will appear on your paintwork once the poo has been removed.
Prevention
The most ideal scenario would be to not have bird droppings come into contact with your car at all, and whilst there aren't many sure fire ways to keep bird muck off of your car, short of keeping it under cover, there are some reliable deterrents that work well at keeping pest birds away.
Visual Bird Deterrents
Placing a visual deterrent such as a Decoy Flying Falcon near to where you park your car can successfully deter many birds. Visual deterrents work by providing a visual threat to pest birds, which they perceive as a predator to be avoided. The advantage of a visual deterrent like the Decoy Flying Falcon is that it moves with the wind, making its movements unpredictable and improving the illusion that it is a real threat to pest birds. One of the failings of static visual deterrents is some species of bird can be quite stubborn and with a degree of intelligence they are able to assess whether or not the threat is real or not, even if initially they assessed it to be a concern. If a pest bird gets used to a visual deterrent, perhaps due to it not moving, they learn to cope with it being there and are no longer deterred.
Sonic Bird Deterrents
A sonic (audible) deterrent such as the Bird Chase Super Sonic Scarer can be very effective at deterring birds from flying or perching near your car, and work by emitting distress and predator bird calls. Effectively both have the same effect; the distress call makes the pest bird believe that another bird is being attacked by a predator, and fearing the predator stays away. The predator call is self-explanatory and deters birds by making them believe that a predator is nearby and this is exceptionally effective against common pest birds such as feral Pigeons and Seagulls.
Sonic deterrents will have different effects on different species of bird, for instance Seagulls, whilst quite aggressive, are rather social creatures and communicate effectively within their colonies. In the event that a Seagull hears a distress call, they can go to investigate to see if they can mob the predator, and when they find that no predator is present this can cause them more distress than actually finding one, as being unable to identify the source of the distress call is unnerving, causing them to fly away. Conversely Pigeons have been known to spend more time assessing a situation before dispersing, however are unlikely to flock to a distress call due to lacking the talons and bill that aid in tackling a predator.
The most effective calls are those that are specific to each species that is causing a nuisance, so its important to identify which bird is being a pest, using a guide if necessary. The distress calls emitted by the Bird Chase Super Sonic Scarer scare off Pigeons, Seagulls, Sparrows, Starlings, Swallows, Crows, and Woodpeckers, however the predator call should dissuade most bird species.
What No More Birds Can Do
No More Birds offer a wide variety of products designed to help prevent birds from pooing on your car, as well as keeping them off a variety of other surfaces at work and around your home. For issues with pest birds around the home we have an interactive guide that has been designed to help you find a solution to a variety of problems that pest birds can cause around your property.
We highly recommend using protective clothing when cleaning bird muck, as it can contain many diseases that can be harmful if the guano comes into contact with the skin or eyes, or if particles are inhaled.
If you want further advice on how to protect your newly cleaned car from bird muck, or if you need advice on any other problems that pest birds are causing you, please do not hesitate to contact us by filling out our online contact form, calling us on 0844 822 8675, or alternatively email us at sales@nomorebirds.co.uk.