The Most Effective Architectural Bird Control Methods
Written by Erick Wolf
Integrating architectural bird control measures into building designs is becoming increasingly popular amongst today's architects. Bird droppings can quickly ruin the image of their walls of glass, clean lines, and beautiful arches, and they’re working tirelessly to find ways to prolong these concerns as long as possible.
Aside from the aesthetic aspects that can be destroyed, architects also recognize that bird droppings contain an acid that can damage areas that were once designed showpieces, eating away and causing permanent damage to various materials, including stone, composite, wood, and even vinyl surfaces.
In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at architectural bird control, including discussing why it’s crucial and identifying some of the most popular methods available today.
Why is Architectural Bird Control Important?
As cityscapes continue to be plagued by birds and their rapidly growing populations, architectural bird control is becoming a crucial aspect of design.
Rounding Out an Architectural Firm’s Capabilities
Architectural firms of today are competing against fierce competition. One excellent way to stand out is by providing an aspect of the business that integrates bird control in the design-build process.
Ideally, businesses should seek to install architectural bird control methods while the machinery and other resources are already available on site. Providing options early on allows enterprises to have architectural bird control methods that are easier to install and maintain.
Reducing the Risk of Property Damage
The various surfaces and materials that make up a building are known for being destroyed by birds. Birds can be responsible for damaging a wide range of surfaces, including those composed of:
Glass
Stone
Composite
Wood
Vinyl
Damages associated with birds can be costly for businesses to repair. Replacing building facades or other vital elements of their physical property may also force them to close temporarily, costing them even more in the long run.
Increasing Health and Safety
As a business owner, promoting safety should always be front of mind. That’s why architectural bird control is pivotal in increasing your patrons' and employees' health and safety. Birds can be responsible for:
Slips and falls from droppings
Carbon dioxide build-up indoors due to nests blocking ventilation
Respiratory concerns for individuals breathing in dried bird feces
Transmission of over 60 diseases, including West Nile Virus and Histoplasmosis
It’s no secret that birds can spread disease through their fecal matter. The last thing any business owner needs is to deal with the spread of disease through their ventilation system due to a lack of effective architectural bird control methods.
Most Popular Architectural Bird Control Methods
The most effective way of installing architectural bird control methods is during the design-build process of any building. But it’s never too late.
Just keep in mind that various factors will go into determining the best bird control method for architecture, including:
The local species of birds
The readily available resources
The size of the infrastructure
Here are the most popular architectural bird control methods available today.
Birth Control
When it comes to bird control for architecture, bird birth control is the most humane option. Bird birth control acts to limit the capability for the flocks to multiply at rapid, uncontrollable rates rather than attacking the live population.
Bird Netting
Bird netting is one of the oldest forms of architectural bird control. It comes in the form of a mesh, which creates a physical barrier to prevent birds from landing or nesting on or around buildings.
Although bird netting can be generally effective on smaller buildings or architectural features, it is not the ideal solution for larger projects.
Bird-Coil
Like bird netting, bird-coil is an architectural bird control method that prevents birds from nesting or resting on or around buildings.
While this method has a lower visibility profile and requires minimal maintenance, making it more appealing to some business owners, it doesn’t prevent the birds from finding nearby areas to roost.
Bird Spikes and Wires
To help keep birds away from more popular roosting areas around buildings, bird spikes and wires come in various splay widths, ranging from one to ten inches.
Bird spikes and wires can help prevent perching in specific areas of buildings, but birds will undoubtedly find a way to rest in other locations whenever possible.
Bird Shock Track
Another low-profile architectural bird control method is the bird shock track. Despite the name, this is a relatively harmless system that helps to educate birds to stay away from specific areas.
While a bird shock track can be effective, it requires a lot of maintenance which can become costly over time.
Why Use OvoControl in Architectural Bird Control?
When it comes to finding effective architectural bird control methods, you’ll often find that it requires the use of multiple options to get the job done. You might have to get creative, especially in larger projects. Thankfully, OvoControl is the new solution for bird control for buildings.
How OvoControl Works
OvoControl is a kibble-type version of an architectural bird birth control. The birds think OvoControl is food and consume it regularly. As the birds feed, they are limiting their ability to produce vital offspring as the formula strictly limits the ability of a pigeon’s egg to develop fully.
History of OvoControl
The active ingredient in OvoControl, nicarbazin, has been used in chickens for enteric diseases for over 65 years. Discovered as birth control by accident, researchers quickly found nicarbazin interfered with the egg’s vitelline layer, the membrane needed in an egg’s development. As a result, OvoControl integrated nicarbazin to serve as a sterilizer for birds.
Final Thoughts
While there are a few different options for architectural bird control, they often require multiple solutions and can still not be entirely effective at minimizing damage to your property.
OvoControl remains one of the most humane and practical solutions to architectural bird control today. Its non-toxic active ingredient ensures humane treatment of the birds, while its multiple delivery options make it customizable to any bird population size.
