The Best Clues to a Bird Problem May Be Right in Front of You
Property managers usually notice a bird problem when they see birds.
At Bell Bird Control, we often look for something else first: the evidence the birds leave behind.
Droppings on the pavement. Nesting material tucked above a loading dock. Feathers around an entrance. A recurring mess beneath one particular beam. Birds that seem to disappear when people approach, only to return as soon as the area gets quiet.
Those clues can tell you more than simply spotting a pigeon, sparrow or starling.
Professional bird control starts by asking a basic question:
Why did the bird pick THAT spot?
Learning to think like a bird can help property managers identify the conditions attracting birds, recognize problems earlier and understand why simply cleaning up the mess often isn’t enough.
1. The Floor Tells the Story
When inspecting a property for bird activity, don’t just look for birds.
Look down.
Bird droppings can help reveal where birds are spending their time even when no birds are currently visible.
A concentrated area of droppings may indicate a favorite perch directly overhead. Repeated accumulation in the same location can suggest that birds aren’t merely passing through—they may be routinely roosting or nesting nearby.
Look for:
- Concentrated droppings rather than isolated spots
- Feathers and nesting material
- Food debris that may be attracting birds
- Droppings beneath beams, signs, pipes, ledges and overhangs
- Recurring messes that return soon after cleaning
Then do something property managers naturally do when diagnosing a building problem:
Follow the evidence.
If the floor tells you something is happening, look up.
2. Look Above the Loading Dock
Loading docks can be particularly attractive to birds.
Think about the environment from their perspective.
There may be overhead beams, pipes, canopies and protected ledges that provide safe places to perch. Open doors can provide access to the building. Trucks, dumpsters, employee activity and damaged packaging can create potential food sources. Roofs and drainage systems may provide water nearby.
And a loading dock can offer something birds value enormously:
Protection.
A bird doesn’t care that a beam wasn’t designed as a perch. It cares that the location is elevated, relatively sheltered from weather and predators, and close to the resources it needs.
That’s why Bell’s bird-control specialists don’t just ask where the birds are.
We ask what the building is giving them.
3. Think About the Bird’s Basic Needs
A commercial property may look completely different to a bird than it does to the people who own and manage it.
To us, it may be a warehouse, shopping center, parking structure, transportation facility or office complex.
To a bird, it may offer four very attractive things:
Food
Dumpsters, outdoor dining areas, loading docks, food-processing areas, employee break spaces and improperly contained trash can all provide opportunities to feed.
Even small and inconsistent food sources can encourage birds to keep checking a property.
Water
Retention ponds, fountains, roof drainage, puddles, irrigation systems and other standing-water sources can make a property more attractive.
For Canada geese, the combination of open turf and nearby water can be particularly appealing.
Warmth and Sunlight
Birds frequently seek locations that provide warmth and exposure to the sun. Certain sides of buildings, rooftop equipment, ledges and protected architectural features can become especially attractive depending on the time of day and season.
If birds repeatedly gather on one section of a building while ignoring another seemingly identical area, ask what is different about that location.
Safety and Shelter
This is a big one.
Birds need places where they feel protected from predators, weather and disturbance—particularly when they are nesting.
Rafters, canopies, signage, rooftop equipment, parking structures, recessed architectural features and gaps in buildings can provide exactly that.
If a location provides food, water, warmth and protection, you shouldn’t be surprised when birds decide to stay.
4. Sometimes the Birds Are Gone — but the Evidence Stays
One of the easiest mistakes is assuming there isn’t a bird problem because you don’t see birds during an inspection.
Bird activity changes throughout the day.
The birds may be feeding somewhere else. They may leave when employees arrive. They may be active early in the morning or later in the day.
That’s why the physical evidence matters.
Droppings don’t fly away when the bird does.
Neither do feathers, nesting materials or the staining and contamination left behind.
If a property manager repeatedly cleans the same area only to find it dirty again a few days later, the cleaning problem may actually be a bird-control problem.
5. Why Cleaning Alone Doesn’t Solve It
Cleaning bird droppings is important.
Bird waste can create unsightly conditions, unpleasant odors, sanitation concerns and potential slip hazards. Accumulations can also damage or stain building materials, vehicles and equipment.
Professional cleanup may therefore be an important part of correcting an established bird problem.
But cleaning addresses the evidence of bird activity.
It doesn’t necessarily address the reason the birds are there.
If birds still have access to the same protected beam, ledge, opening or nesting area after everything has been cleaned, there may be nothing stopping them from returning.
That’s why effective bird management often combines cleanup with exclusion.
Remove the contamination.
Then address the conditions that allowed the birds to occupy the space.
6. Exclusion Changes the Building From the Bird’s Perspective
There is no single bird-control product that’s right for every situation.
The appropriate solution depends on the species, the building, the location and what the birds are doing there.
Bell Bird Control designs customized bird-control programs that can include netting, electric-track deterrents and other exclusion techniques.
The objective is simple:
Make the place the bird wants to occupy unavailable or undesirable.
A properly designed exclusion system doesn’t depend on someone continually chasing birds away. It changes the environment so birds can no longer use the structure in the same way.
That’s particularly important in places such as warehouses, loading docks, parking structures and hangars, where birds can find protected overhead spaces that are difficult for people to reach but ideal for nesting and roosting.
7. Canada Geese Require a Different Way of Thinking
Canada geese illustrate why identifying what the bird wants matters.
Geese generally aren’t looking for a warehouse rafter.
They’re looking at the landscape.
Open grass provides food. Nearby water provides security. Open sightlines help geese watch for threats. Once they find a property that meets those needs, they may return repeatedly.
For appropriate properties, Bell can incorporate professional goose repellents and other management techniques designed to make the property less attractive to geese.
Again, the principle is the same:
Don’t just react to where the bird is. Understand why it chose that location.
A Quick Bird-Control Check for Property Managers
You don’t need to be an ornithologist to conduct a useful first inspection.
Walk your property and ask:
Where is the mess?
Look for concentrations of droppings, feathers and nesting material.
What’s directly above it?
Check beams, pipes, signs, canopies, ledges and protected structural areas.
Where could birds be getting food?
Inspect dumpsters, loading docks, outdoor eating areas and waste-handling locations.
Where is the water?
Look at ponds, drainage, irrigation, roof areas and recurring standing water.
Where would a bird feel safe?
Look for height, shelter, warmth, limited human disturbance and protection from predators.
Are there openings into the building?
Pay particular attention to doors, damaged screening, gaps and other access points.
Does the mess keep coming back?
Recurring cleanup is a strong reason to investigate the source rather than simply scheduling another cleaning.
And perhaps the most useful question of all:
Why did the bird pick THAT spot?
Answer that, and you’re much closer to solving the problem.
See the Property the Way the Birds Do
Property managers are trained to notice things other people walk past: a leak beginning to form, unusual wear on a floor, a door that isn’t closing properly or equipment that suddenly sounds different.
Bird problems deserve the same diagnostic approach.
The floor tells the story. Look above the loading dock. Notice where the birds return. And when the birds are gone, pay attention to the evidence that stays behind.
Then look at your building through their eyes.
Where’s the food?
Where’s the water?
Where’s the warmth?
Where’s the protected place to perch or build a nest?
Once you understand why birds have chosen your property, you can start determining how to make them choose somewhere else.
Have a Bird Problem? Let Bell Look Up.
If you’re seeing recurring bird droppings, nesting activity or birds occupying areas of your commercial property, don’t just keep cleaning the same mess.
Contact Bell Bird Control to have an experienced bird-control professional evaluate what’s attracting the birds, where they’re living and what exclusion or deterrent approach may be appropriate for your facility.
Call Bell Bird Control at (877) 406-2473 or visit BellBirdControl.com to learn more.
Find the evidence. Find the reason. Then solve the bird problem at its source.
