Bird deterrent

[paradox]

The birds have found my boat each season at the mooring
It is a place for feasting. Recently, it looked like a murder took place on my foredeck.
I have tried everything to keep the birds away
Its and expensive option, but would a wind generator keep the birds away?

[boatman61]

Have you tried the spinning CD's.???
A wind gen would only keep them away from the immediate area.. cabin top and foredeck still vulnerable.

[Montanan]

I have seen that displaying dead bird carcasses of similar species can sometimes be a deterrent; it seems to emulate a murder scene to the birds of similar feathers.

And the dead ones tend to not be much of a bother.

[boatman61]

Don't try the above in the UK..
All species of gull are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. This makes it illegal to intentionally or, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, recklessly injure or kill any gull

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Have you tried the spinning CD's.???
A wind gen would only keep them away from the immediate area.. cabin top and foredeck still vulnerable.

Actually DVDs work better

An owl decoy hung from a line just above the deck is used here with some success, but European birds may be more sophisticated....

[Orion Jim]

Spike strips work well. Commercially available or make your own.

[boatman61]

Budget sailor.. CD's are cheaper..

[GreenWave]

We have had some success with hanging CDs and wrapping "scare tape" around halyards and hoisting them up. Scare tape can be found on Amazon for pretty cheap. You do have to replace it every couple of weeks.

[Jono as 2234]

I have tried all of the above, plus a fake eagle suspend from from the masthead. Absolutely nothing works. We even see gulls perched on the fake owls.
The only thing that works is netting. Pita to set and remove but better than all the **** and lunch remains. It took literally months to get a squids ink off the fg foredeck

[Jolly Roger]

Read this article I wrote for Cruising World in 2018 about bird problems.
BIRD SCARERS (schooner-britannia.com)
I came to the conclusion that a simple awning was the cheapest and most effective method.

[Bruce K]

Originally Posted by Jono as 2234

I have tried all of the above, plus a fake eagle suspend from from the masthead. Absolutely nothing works. We even see gulls perched on the fake owls.
The only thing that works is netting. Pita to set and remove but better than all the **** and lunch remains. It took literally months to get a squids ink off the fg foredeck

A dead seagull works in Pittwater! Found one about 3 years ago, put it on the top of my boat, while it was there I had a few "fly overs" with much squarking, but nothing since. A mooring neighbour has one laminated between two layers of plastic of some sort, that works also. It surprises me that there are no imitation dead seagulls available in Oz.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by paradox

The birds have found my boat each season at the mooring
It is a place for feasting. Recently, it looked like a murder took place on my foredeck.
I have tried everything to keep the birds away
Its and expensive option, but would a wind generator keep the birds away?

What works is to go outside, look up, and if you see a bird, bang the rig with your hand and the bird will usually fly away. You can also run up a broom stick and make it swing wildly until it hits the bird, however it can also hit your instruments.

It is helpful if you don't leave them many places to perch. Vertical spikes seem to be uncomfortable for the big birds, the small birds will land anywhere but they are frightened quickly when you hit the rig with the palm of your hand. Two or three times and they learn and don't come back until the next day. A few days in a row and they become trained.

HOWEVER, all of this works only if you are on the boat. If you moor the boat and leave it, you get what you deserve. Don't leave your boat alone, it needs you. Buy it, move on board, and stay there. Otherwise, tough luck.

[ggray]

Originally Posted by wingssail

What works is to go outside, look up, and if you see a bird, bang the rig with your hand and the bird will usually fly away.

but they are frightened quickly when you hit the rig with the palm of your hand. Two or three times and they learn and don't come back until the next day. A few days in a row and they become trained.

I have noticed this as well.

I wonder if an electrically powered device that "plucked" a shroud randomly would be effective, or if they would just get used to it.

[JPA Cate]

They get used to it, just like blackbirds get used to the guns going off at the vineyards.

What also works is to play recordings made of predator birds' calls. Googling will get you to some sources. A boat next to us in a popular New South Wales harbour played one of these. Theirs was rigged so that the motion sensor set off the recording. And the shags shat elsewhere. Super!

Ann

[garyfdl]

Over the years, I have found that many of the suggestions work (CD's, owls, tape/streamers, etc). I had an inflatable beach-ball device with what looked like eyes on it that was effective, but...

only if you move them to different places on the boat every 2-3 days. Birds 'acclimate' to them quickly and ignore them if they aren't moved.

I am guessing that a faux dead sea-bird, left in the same place, would lose effectiveness as well.

A local river walk has horizontal, powered 'windmills' (for lack of a better description) that have bird-of-prey facsimiles (ospreys, I think) that work in conjunction with bird distress calls. There is one on each side of the river, they run intermittently, and seem to work well. However the bird calls are annoying, and, I imagine playing them in a mooring field or marina might lead to complaints.