We have been plagued by pigeons (sometimes 20+ of them) living on top and under our solar panels. We could hear them skittering on our roof constantly. What the heck! How heavy can their little feet be? And the cooing.... cooing... cooing! You might think that's lovely and loving, but it gets annoying and would you believe... LOUD? Our neighbors even mentioned that they could hear them. Then we started getting bites which another neighbor suggested was from bird mites.
One neighbor had been feeding pigeons a couple of houses down. Another neighbor, Steve and Art went together and asked them if they could please stop because Steve was aware of the pigeon bird mites from his workplace. Thankfully, the pigeon feeders kindly stopped.
Then another person who lived much farther away was actually coming to our street to feed the birds while on their walks. Why our street? Why not at their own house? I asked them to please do it elsewhere and they have. (This is Hawaii. There's always something for birds to eat.) But it was too late.
When we had our roof/gutter cleaner, Ku come to wash down our gutters and solar panels, he said he didn't like to touch under the panels because he didn't want to get bird mite bites.
It was great that the solar company knew how to remove the panels to clean underneath it. Our microinverter was covered in bird poop.
The roof was covered with bird poop. There was lots and lots of nesting material under the panels and even a dead bird.
Three workers were up there all day and they collected two huge bags of nesting material and poop. Art took these garbage photos at midday so I think they added to it.
The next day, two pigeons came back and kept walking around and around the panels looking for a way in.
But they didn't leave. They sat in the gutter instead.
The day after that, there were half a dozen pigeons.
Arrgghhhh!
I looked up pigeon problems online.
They confirmed what I already knew. The cooing can get very loud and annoying. It's also a sign that they are loving our roof and loving each other.... if you get my drift... thus the nesting for their babies. The website mentioned how you have to make the birds uncomfortable and not like your house.
Uuuummmm..... Hoooow?
So Art started looking up water guns that he could shoot onto the roof from the ground. The kids and I have forbidden him from climbing onto the roof.
Today, I told him to just use our water sprinkle to startle them so he gave it a try.
Would you believe a strong splash of water had a CLOUD of pigeons go scattering into the sky? We actually couldn't count them because there were so many pigeons. We had no idea there were that many pigeons up there.
So I guess our plan now is to go out two or three times a day and splash them. But will they learn that it's just water and that our home is still their happy cooing place to be?
I hope not because I can only keep Art off the roof for so long.
We had a house where pigeons loved to nestle in the eaves. We were told that if you killed one, the others would leave. I got hold of an air rifle and did that, but it didn’t work. I don’t like killing things, but that’s whatI did then.
ReplyDeleteOver the weekend I re-watched the movie Steel Magnolias. If you've seen it, there's a scene in the beginning where the father uses a pistol to try to scare off birds nesting in the trees. That probably would NOT be a good solution for your problem!
ReplyDeletePeople in British Columbia have been feeding the coyotes and as a result they bit a woman as it causes them to lose their fear of people. They have to put them down if they attack a human
ReplyDeleteWhat an awful problem! I can't imagine the aggravation. I have a similar, but not as bad, issue with a couple of ducks who like to claim my swimming pool as their own. My wife has laughed at me many times watching me try to chase them out of the area.
ReplyDeleteI used to see a couple of mallards in our backyard when we lived in Illinois after a downpour. That was fun. Pigeons are NOT fun.
DeleteI didn't realize that pigeons were such a nuisance! But what a lot of effort and time you've had to spend to try to free yourself of the hordes of them. Hope the water works to discourage them from nesting on your roof!
ReplyDeleteI do see an improvement during the midday hours. I used to see hoards of them flying up onto the roof from our window. At least now it's dawn and dusk. Sigh...
DeleteWow! What a giant pain! (No pigeon is worth Art's life and limb. Keep a leash on him.) Send those pigeons to England or New Orleans. Hopefully the bird stomping will stop. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteGoogle tells me the Barn Owl has been introduced to Hawaii. Perhaps you need to put up some owl nesting boxes to encourage the pigeons to move on.
ReplyDeleteWe have a native owl called the pueo. I do see that barn owls were introduced to the islands. I doubt they'd be in our town though. If I set up nesting boxes, it would be the pigeons, mourning doves, bulbuls, mynahs and finches that would happily move in. Shudder...
DeleteMaybe just connecting a regular garden hose with a strong sprayer nozzle will help get them off the roof. Hope all of the improvements get the message to the head pigeon. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteTrouble is, that's a pretty tricky thing to do. Our roof is quite high.
DeleteOooh. Maybe one of those extensions like what would be used to clean windows that are on the second floor? I bet they like your higher roof compared to the neighbors, maybe. Not too many pleasant options. Feeding them poison would result in a different mess, and maybe harm feral cats and non-feral cats. What would animal control or a pest company suggest? Linda in Kansas
DeleteLin says wow problems keep coming of one sort or another...
ReplyDeleteWonder why they prefer solar panels to plain roofing? So much for the critter guard. What a mess and hope they eventually get the message they are not wanted.
ReplyDeleteThey came to build their nests under the panels which is amazing because there wasn't all that much room under them. There's a lot of neighbors with solar panels. WHY they like ours so much is a mystery.
DeleteLoved your entertaining writing about this aggravating problem, Kay! I’ll bet the water-splashing will make them stay away eventually!
ReplyDeleteHi Carole, I sure hope so. There were a dozen birds roosting at the top of the roof (right on top the solar panels) this morning. Art is charting when they seem to come which is early morning and evening. They've learned to stay away from one part of the roof where they are anticipating Art is going to be. Never underestimate birds and calling someone a birdbrain is not really an insult. We used to put up shiny CDs and other objects to keep bulbuls away from mom's orchids. It would scare them for a week or two and once they knew it wasn't going to hurt them, would stop by just to laugh at us.
DeleteHow awful! Fortunately we don't get that many here. I have only counted from two to five doves in our trees, and their soft cooing is very soothing, though I could see if there were as many as you have to deal with, it would be a major annoyance. I see pigeons underneath the overpasses as we drive through them. That's where they seem to hang out here. I'm glad your neighbors stopping their feeding. I have never heard of people being bitten by bird mites, that would be very freaky. Our mosquitoes are enough to deal with. The only annoyance we have right now is someone keeps banging their drums and playing music across the back garden. I think they are practicing for the high school band, or some kind of band. Someone has a big bass drum which rattles our windows just about.
ReplyDeleteWe've had doves nesting in our eaves, but they weren't as much of a problem as the pigeons.
DeleteOh my goodness this sounds awful.
ReplyDeleteWe do have a few pigeons around but only a few ...
All the best Jan
I guess I'll take moles in my lawn to pigeons pooping in my roof. Good luck with your bird deterrents.
ReplyDeletePeople love pigeons but they are a tremendous nuisance. One morning I was nonchalantly leaning on a wall waiting for my bus. All of a sudden, plop on my head. Some pigeon delivered some very liquid poop on the top of my head.
ReplyDeleteYuck! I'm so sorry. My cousin got really splattered in Rome at the Coliseum. It was pretty awful.
DeleteAmazon sells something called bird shock tape at a fairly low price. But I can see how it would make you crazy. I would keep blasting them with the hose.
ReplyDeleteThat sounded interesting but we'd have to get an electrical outlet somewhere to attach it to. Sounds very interesting, but I think we'll stick to the hose for now. I don't hear them during the day now. We mostly see them at dawn and dusk... sort of.
DeleteIf you find a solution you will be instant millionaires next to the folks who invent a pill to melt fat instantly. Birds are a major Waikiki Hotel prob, due to the nearby (as the pigeon flies) zoo. They are bold as seagulls to go on dining guests tables. They walk and poop all over surfaces. And as long as hotels have been in Waikiki no one has found a solution including the cruel spike strips. Actually water may attract birds due to lack of fresh water. Maybe one of those Halloween moveable decorations that say something. Hire a handy man. BB
ReplyDeleteOur 2nd floor roof is much too high to put anything up there. I think that because we've had so many babies born up on our roof, they consider it their homing site. Sigh... We'll try to keep irritating them and hoping our water bill doesn't climb too high. I just looked up what you call baby pigeons. It's squeakers or squabs. You know squabs are a delicacy.
DeleteThat was really a LOT of bird rubbish! My daughter has doves that like to sit on their window eaves and we have tried tying fishing line across the top and then some bird spikes from Daiso that were too light and would fall off when it was windy. I also made ceramic spikes but they would come back and squeeze in the back of them and break the spikes. I think I finally have the solution - cutting 4x4's on the diagonal and setting them in place so they do not have any more flat surface to roost.
ReplyDeleteMaybe firecrackers thrown on your roof from time to time. Though your neighbors won't appreciate it. Or, lol, throw a cat up there.
I don't think spraying will fix this problem. It will take the world's most tried-and-proven bird abatement system -- cats!
ReplyDeleteIf we could keep a cat up there, would be nice. Our roof is very high.
DeleteWhat a nuisance!!
ReplyDeleteHow about a few cats? Cats do hunt birds and even if they don't catch them, may keep them away? I thought of this when someone mentioned using hot wires to keep the pigeons off the roof. One of our neighbors did this to keep rats off his roof... which we never had that problem as we have feral cats that keep rats and snakes at bay. (We live on a creek lot)
ReplyDeleteOur roof is very high because we built the 2nd floor over the roof line of the original house to keep the cost down. There's no way we can put a cat on our hot Hawaiian roof or keep them there.
DeleteWhat a pain in the butt for you! I hope it all goes well.
ReplyDeleteThey're on my building roof at times, but not problematic.
ReplyDelete