Bird Deterrents for Sailboats and Powerboats come in many varieties…
Each type of bird deterrent has pros and cons. Here we will provide a summary description of the basic types and the good and bad of each type.
No Bird Deterrent
Pros:
Doing nothing to deter birds from attacking your boat has the benefit of completely avoiding the time and expense of deploying a preventative bird deterrent measure. If you do not seem to have a bird problem, this your best option!
Cons:
If you do have a problem with bird fouling on your boat, doing nothing about it means you will need to spend time, potentially a lot of time, cleaning up when you want to use your boat. If your boat or sailboat is particularly attractive to birds for one reason or another, you may have to spend multiple hours to clean each time you want to use your boat after leaving it on a mooring, at anchor, or on a slip. Plus cleaning up bird mess is not a fun thing to do, and can ultimately do permanent damage to the finish on your boat.
Bird ‘Spider’ Devices
A deterrent device commonly known as a bird ‘spider’ consists of wires radiating out from a central base. The wires are intended to move about with wind or waves rocking your boat. The motion of the wires is supposed to aggravate birds and make them fly away. In addition they will deter birds from landing on your powerboat or sailboat in the area that the wires are protruding.
Pros:
Relatively low expense. Likely will protect the area the deterrent is located in.
Cons:
Have to install and remove when using boat. Hard to anchor it in one spot; but special sand bag bases are available for this purpose, although in very high wind or wavy conditions may not be sufficient. The deterrent only works for the specific area it is installed in. Impractical to use this deterrent to protect all potential areas of boat where birds could roost, particularly on say, a 30 foot sailboat.
Mesh Covering
Using a mesh shield material to cover the boat surfaces.
Pros:
A mesh shield is guaranteed to deter birds from landing and prevent them from reaching your boat surfaces, so this method always works for the area it is covering.
Cons:
Normally impractical to cover entire boat. Can be very time consuming to install and remove. Until now! see How does BDSx00 bird deterrent work?
Fake Owl
Plastic fake owl, mounted somewhere on your boat where birds will presumably see it, such as attached to the mast of a sailboat.
Pros:
Low cost and simple to install on boat.
Cons:
Usually will not work to deter birds. Birds realize it is not live.
Fake Snake
Pros:
Low cost and simple to install on boat.
Cons:
Usually will not work to deter all bird species. Birds realize it is not live.
Tin Plates, Bird scare tape
Reflective tin plates, or bird deterrent ‘scare’ tape that is reflective, attached on a line and hung around the boat in various places where birds may see it.
Pros:
Low cost, and may work for some species of birds.
Cons:
Hard to protect entire boat, time consuming to install and remove. May not work well on cloudy days or non-windy days. Does not deter all species of birds equally.
Bird ‘repeller’ or gull ‘sweep’ device
This deterrent consists of a rotating arm mounted on a vertical post which rotates in the wind and hits birds that come within the rotation area causing them to move or fly away.
Pros:
Low to Medium cost. Relatively easy to install and remove when boating, once the permanent part of the installation is complete.
Cons:
Will not work when there is no wind. Will only deter birds for the limited area it is covering. Impractical to use on sailboats due to various lines, extrusions, and required coverage area. Requires permanent mounting installation.
Monofilament Line
Monofilament or similar line can be mounted at select locations on the boat. For example, above a hand railing to deter birds from landing on the railing
Pros:
Low cost. Will work for selected area it covers
.
Cons:
Impractical and time consuming to cover entire boat. Requires permanent or semi-permanent mounting installation.
Bird Spikes
These are upward facing posts or nails mounted on horizontal surfaces that deter birds from landing on the horizontal surface. Improvised version includes wire ties or tie-wraps attached to spreaders with long end facing up.
Pros:
Bird spikes work well on sailboat spreaders. They are low cost and are installed once, before the boat is launched ( unless you have a crane or want to climb the mast after launch)
Cons:
Cannot be used for all areas of the boat, only useful on spreaders and top of mast. Cannot be used on railings, deck surface, etc.
Summary
The above list describes some of the known methods of deterring birds from messing up your motorboat or sailboat, along with a suggestion of the pros and cons of each method. We hope this is useful to you in your efforts at bird deterrence.
Please consider taking a look at our BDSx00 bird deterrent system, which uses a patented mesh shield technology that can be installed and removed in a matter of minutes. If you are having a bird fouling problem, our system can definitely help! Check out our other postings for more information, then use our Configuration Guide (Sail) or Configuration Guide (Power) to determine which model is right for you, and visit our
Online Store to order. Thanks!