How to keep birds from perching around your home

Key takeaways

• Bird deterrents such as plastic predators, reflective mylar balloons, and aluminum pans may help discourage birds from perching, although their effectiveness can vary.
• Cleaning up food that’s been left out and removing bird feeders can help make your home and yard less attractive to unwanted birds.
• Limiting places where birds can bathe, such as shallow ponds, is another way to discourage them from gathering around your property.
• Common perching birds in the U.S. include flycatchers, swallows, crows, ravens, jays, finches, wrens, and sparrows.
• Some perching birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so contact a State Wildlife Biologist if you’re unsure about a species or applicable laws.

Jump to section:

How to help prevent birds from perching

Common perching birds

Birds can quickly become unwelcome guests when they regularly perch or nest around your home and leave behind a mess. Fortunately, bird deterrents and other preventive measures can help make your property less inviting. Learn how to keep birds away from your house and discourage them from perching or nesting nearby.

How to help prevent birds from perching

If you search online for easy ways to keep birds at bay, before long you’ll hit the advice to scatter fake, plastic predators around your yard or near your home. While it may seem silly to have a big plastic owl perched around your home, there is a chance that this could actually help keep certain birds at bay. According to a study done to measure the efficacy of plastic owls, there was a decrease in the number of birds that visited feeders where plastic owls were placed. Then again, you may have also seen some daring birds sit atop or right near the faux predators. Results can vary, but it is possible that plastic predators could help to deter some bird species for a short period of time.

There are other bird deterrents that work that you may want to try such as mylar balloons or disposable aluminum pans. The noise and reflective qualities help prevent birds from perching in those areas.

Even if we wouldn’t typically consider perching birds to be pests, they can be attracted to similar things like other common pests. For example, food that is left out might attract unwanted birds in the same manner that leaving food out could also attract other pests. If you follow behaviors to keep birds away in the first place, you’re less likely to deal with any that try to perch or build nests near or on your home. Also, if you’re trying to keep birds from hanging out on your roof and window sills, it’s probably wise to remove any bird feeders you might have near your home.

Even if they were not meant as birdbaths, shallow ponds could offer birds a place to eat and bathe. Anything you can do to make your yard and home less attractive is going to be helpful for keeping birds at bay.

Common perching birds

Now that you know some tips to help keep birds from perching, let’s look at some of the bird types that are more likely to perch near or on your home. Perching birds, also known as song birds, belong to the order Passeriformes. They’re the most common type of bird across the world. In the United States, there are many different types of perching birds that you might run into. And even if their song may be pleasant, there’s a chance you don’t want them hanging around too much and making a mess. Below are a few of the different common perching birds within the United States. It’s worth noting that because there are so many different species of perching birds, different ones are popular in different regions of the country.

• Flycatchers
• Swallows
• Crows, ravens, and jays
• Finches
• Wrens
• Sparrows

Some of these species are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Disturbance of nesting birds can result in fines. Always contact a State Wildlife Biologist if you’re unsure of bird species and laws in your state.