Bird Control in NYC, Long Island, and New Jersey

Pest Birds

Few people ordinarily think of birds as pests, but when birds gather in too great a number or in places where they don't belong, they can become a nuisance, or sometimes even pose a safety or health hazard.

There are three bird species classified as pests: the pigeon, the house sparrow, and the starling. These birds can be controlled by any lawful means (including killing), by any properly certified pest management professional. (Most often, however, non-lethal control measures such as frightening, netting, tactile devices, and exclusion are used rather than actually killing pest birds.)

All birds other the the three mentioned above come under the heading of "nuisance animals," rather than pests, and can only be controlled when they are creating a problem, and only by non-lethal means.

Health and Safety Risks Associated with Birds

When present in large numbers or in sensitive areas, birds can present health and safety risks that necessitate their removal and control. For example:

Birds around airports can cause a hazard to aviation when they fly in the paths of aircraft and get sucked into jet engines.
Birds around industrial facilities can cause a fire hazard by nesting near electrical machinery, and can clog equipment or distribute pathogens through buildings when they get sucked into air intakes.
Birds in and around electrical power plants can cause massive blackouts, as the people of Staten Island found out not very long ago. (For more information about "The Great Staten Island Turkey Caper," click here.)
Birds and their by-products can transmit several serious diseases, such as histoplasmosis, cryptococcus, and psittacosis.
Birds carry ectoparasites, such as fleas, mites, and ticks, that can serve as vectors of serious diseases such Lyme disease and West Nile virus.

Bird Control

Success fl control of birds generally requires careful planning and cooperation from the customer (and sometimes others). A successful bird control program usually consists of the following elements:

Sanitation and habitat modification, to reduce the availability of food, water, and shelter around sensitive areas.
Education (for example, explaining to people why feeding the pigeons is a bad idea).
Structural modifications, such as sealing bird access points, installing netting, and installing tactile repellent devices on roosting areas.
In some cases, fright devices may be useful.
On occasion, the use of chemical avicides may be necessary as an adjunct to non-chemical control.
Finally, areas previously infested with birds must be carefully and thoroughly decontaminated to remove droppings, feathers, pathogens, and parasites.

Bird Barrier Certified Installer Logo Pest Quest Pest Management has on-staff specialists in bird control who can handle any bird problem in the most humane manner possible in a given situation.

We are also a Bird-Barrier Certified installer. Bird-Barrier is a leading manufacturer of non-lethal bird repellent devices that use harmless pricklers or mild electrical shocks to repel birds from ledges and other areas where they create a nuisance or health hazard, without causing injury or harm to the birds.

Please contact Pest Quest Pest Management to learn more or to arrange for a consultation and a comprehensive, customized bird control proposal.