Do Artificial Owls Keep Birds Away?

Birds are such a common thing in our everyday society that a lot of times we just flat out don't even notice them. They are just out doing their own thing and we, for the most part, just don't pay any attention to them. It's part of how our world has come to exist.

Maybe part of the reason why we ignore birds and don't really pay them much mind is because there are so many of them. There are literally tens to hundreds of billions of birds on the planet today. They are overwhelmingly more populous than human beings. This probably plays a huge factor in why we simply just don't pay them much mind.

However, that does not mean that every person wants them around. While birds may be that much of a nuisance to some, and some may even adore the way that birds look and act, there are those that find them to be quite a disturbing little creature. Birds make a mess in the places where they inhabit, they spread diseases and parasites, and they can wreak havoc upon a person's garden or farm. It's perfectly understandable why some would decide that they don't want birds around at all.

Getting them to go away is quite a bit of work though. You can't really use repellents with them because birds can simply fly to another area to avoid the repellent. Many people are able to place a repellent line around their home and that works for such animals as raccoons and squirrels. However, the bird just flies right over the top of it and gets access to your property. In less you are intending to completely immerse your property in these repellents you are going to have no success in keeping the birds away using them. It is literally a complete waste of your money.

Some use other types of deterrence to keep birds away. There are devices that you can attach to your home that make it difficult for them to land. These can be effective in resolving your problem, but they can also be time-consuming to put up a bit expensive to purchase. This may not be a huge deal to some, but to others it's just a little out of their scope of ability to pay for.

An idea that has been around for quite some time is the use of a fake owl. Posting the owl upon a person's home is supposed to scare away the birds so that they will not land. Because these animals are a natural predator to many smaller types of birds, the reasoning behind them is that the other birds will be fearful and flee.

There is some pretty sound reasoning behind this if you down to it. If you think about it, it's the same kind of reasoning that is used in placing scarecrows up around a person's farm. The scarecrow has an effect in scaring away many types of birds including such things as crows and blackbirds. It would seem logical then that the same kind of idea could be used with a decoy owl to scare other birds away.

People go to the store and purchase these decoys, placing them around their gardens, on the patios and railings, and windowsills, and even on the roof of their home. While the decoy is a stationary object, it still is intended to have an effect upon the other birds.

So does it work?

If you get a completely stationary decoy that you leave in the same place all the time, it may work for a day or two. Eventually, however, the birds are going to get onto it. They're going to get "smart" about it and realize that there's nothing to fear.

To resolve this problem many people purchase the stationary owl and then move around from time to time. This gives the impression that this is a living bird that will attack them if given the opportunity. This can be highly effective in keeping other birds away. It just can be time-consuming, especially if you purchased 10 or 12 of these decoys.

The best option for you is to look into the decoys that have some motion to them. There are ones that you can buy where the head will swivel, the ice will open, and some even offer the ability to make sounds like an owl will. These are battery-operated that usually have a motion sensor to them. When a bird sets off the motion sensor by coming in close proximity to the decoy it causes the device to make a screeching noise like an owl would. This scares away the bird and keeps it from returning for a time.

Owl decoys that move at random intervals, like the head will swivel or the feet will move, can have a great effect in keeping birds away. They will be naturally scared of this decoy and fearful that it could be a living, flying, dangerous owl that could be coming after them.

In terms of having a successful way to keep birds off of your property, this is one of the best ones to use. If you're willing to pay the extra expense to get one that provides its own motion and even has sounds that you are more likely to successfully deter birds from coming to your property. It's a really smart investment if you get down to it.



Also read our other bird tip: What Are The Risks Of Disease From Pigeon Poop