We've not long rung in the New Year through our own ways of celebration, and whether you rung in 2016 with a party or had a quiet evening with a few board games and your nearest and dearest, January has always been a precursor to the spring in that it represents a time of renewal. While spring might feel like a long way off with the wet and potentially frosty months of January, February and March needing to pass before we start to see the weather really improve, but it's never too soon to start considering work to your home to proof it before pest birds start to make noise and leave mess around your property.

Window ledges provide the ideal location for pest birds to perch, offering somewhere away from predators and often high up for many species of bird to survey their surroundings. Unfortunately as these surrounds are so appealing pest birds can cause quite a nuisance when perched on them, and no doubt at some point you've experienced the annoyance of being awoken by pest birds on a bedroom window sill, and of course the mess that they can leave on a window ledge (which in some cases create a very unpleasant smell) or on the ground below. In this article we'll go through a few options available to you to keep birds off your window ledge.

Easy to Install Bird Deterrents

In this article all of options that we'll go through provide an effective way to deter birds such as pigeons, seagulls and other pest birds from window ledges, and while they all require a basic knowledge of DIY, but provided you have a relatively ease of access to your window sill or ledge they shouldn't provide too much of a challenge to install. At No More Birds we can provide you with detailed instructions and advice for installation, as well as the tools that you'll need to fit these bird deterrents to your property.

Bird Spikes

It's likely that you've spotted bird spikes in and around towns and cities across the UK, but if not look at the buildings in your local town centre and you'll notice that these inconspicuous bird deterrents can be found almost everywhere. They've become a common sight in populated areas, and for good reason; they provide a safe, humane and effective way to deter pest birds from landing on the window ledge of any given property and are available in a range of sizes and materials to ensure that you can keep pest birds off of your property, without having a big impact on how it looks.

Stainless Steel Bird Spikes

Stainless steel bird spikes provide strength and durability that makes them ideal for use in areas where a lot of activity occurs, for instance if a window cleaner was to knock stainless steel seagull spikes they would be unlikely to be knocked down or broken.

Polycarbonate Spikes

Polycarbonate spikes, also known as plastic pigeon spikes, work in much the same way as stainless steel spikes and are just as effective, however they aren't quite as strong, meaning that they're more appropriate for locations where there is unlikely to be anything touching them. Polycarbonate spikes and only available in narrow and medium sizes making them ideal to deter pigeons and other similar sized or smaller pest birds and aren't available as seagull spikes.

Seagull Spikes

Compared to many other species of pest bird seagulls have quite long legs, so to ensure that birds spikes are an effective deterrent for them, seagull spikes have been specifically designed to be taller than pigeon spikes and are only available in a wide width. While seagull spikes are made from durable stainless steel they utilise a polycarbonate base.

Pigeon Spikes

Unlike seagulls that require a reasonable amount of space to land and take off due to their size and wing span; pigeons are comfortable with squeezing themselves into some of the tightest of spaces, including narrow ledges. To ensure that pigeon spikes are effective them come in widths that accommodate for this, meaning that it's important that you pigeon spikes are a tight fit to ensure that they work as intended.

Ledge Depth and Spike Width

To determine which width you require you'll need to measure the depth of your ledge from the point at which it meets the wall or window of your building to the far edge of the ledge or sill. Most of the bird deterrent spikes that we offer at No More Birds are available in 33cm lengths and are usually sold in quantities of a metre each, including 3 lengths of spikes per metre purchased.

The widths of the pigeon, seagull and bird deterrent pikes that we offer are as follows:

Narrow Spikes - Up to 4"
Medium Spikes - 4" to 8"
Wide Spikes - 8" to 12"

It might seem like a minor detail, but it really is important to choose the correct width of pigeon spikes for your property, as if there is insufficient coverage pigeons can squeeze behind or in front of the spikes. For some ledges one size width might not be appropriate and you may need to fit 2 rows of spikes of similar or different widths to achieve the best coverage.

How to Fit Bird Spikes

Before you once you have measured the width of your ledge or sill and ordered the appropriate bird spikes it's vital to clean and prepare the surface that you'll be fixing them to. At No More Birds we offer a range of specialist guano cleaning that we highly recommend considering when cleaning bird droppings to ensure that you effectively clean the mess and that you're safe from airborne contaminants.

Fix Bird Spikes with Silicone Adhesive

Silicone adhesive provides a quick and easy way of securing bird spikes to a wide variety of ledges. Silicone adhesive can be applied using a caulking gun by squeezing silicone on to the underside of the base of the bird spike before placing the strip of spikes onto the surface of your ledge. We recommend using a high quality silicone such as the one that we have available in our online store as it has a low odour and a high tack adhesion. Silicone adhesive has the advantage of staying elastic after it has set, meaning that if birds try to land on the spikes they should move instead of breaking, helping them to last for longer.

Fix Bird Spikes with Screws

The bird spikes that we offer at No More Birds come with small fixing holes which you can use in conjunction with spike fixing screws to effectively fix your bird spikes to your ledge without the concern of damaging the spike base.

Fix Bird Spikes Window Posts

In the instances wherein the ledge that you want to deter pest birds from has a window which opens outwards you can use window posts to fit your bird spikes. These work by enabling you to clip your spikes into special posts which are fixed to the base of the window rather than directly onto your ledge or window sill, allowing you to freely open your window.

Bird Repellent Gel

Bird repellent gel is a great alternative to bird spikes, and whilst it requires regular reapplication it doesn't require any DIY to install making it a great choice for those who aren't keen on installing bird spikes. Bird repellent is a sticky non-toxic chemical that causes the surface that it's applied to, to become tacky and uncomfortable for birds to land on. Many pest birds will naturally avoid bird repellent gel, deterring them in a very humane fashion. The transparent gel can form a skin but won't completely set or go hard, but to be effective will need to be reapplied once every 6-12 months.

Applying Bird Repellent Gel

Bird Repellent Gel can easily be applied by using a caulking gun and making a zigzag pattern along the surface; one tube is sufficient for approximately 10 feet.

Bird Free Fire Gel

Bird free fire gel is more humane than it sounds, and rather than actually producing flames to roast pest birds it convinces birds that the area that it is applied to is on fire by producing UV rays which look like fire to birds, and it also has an appealing cinnamon scent. Much like bird repellent gel, fire gel requires reapplication with dishes requiring an occasional top up or refill, as well as the removal of any debris to ensure that they work effectively.

The bird free fire gel that we sell at No More Birds comes in tubes complete with the required small circular dishes which should be secured using silicone adhesive before being filled.

Talk to the Experts at No More Birds

At No More Birds we have been providing our services in deterring pest birds from homes and commercial properties across the UK for many years, and in that time we've become experts at what we do. We're always on hand to help you to chose the right product to help you deter pest birds such as pigeons and seagulls from your property, so if you want some advice, or to find out more about the products we've discussed in this article, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. You can contact us using our online contact form, by sending an email through to sales@nomorebirds.co.uk, or you can call us on 0844 822 8675.