Nuisance Small Bird Removal

[Moving Target]

Apologies in advance for being off-topic, but I think my problem could benefit from some of the survival food gathering/game catching experience in this forum...

Looking for advice on how to remove small birds from a large open buidling with high ceilings (think: warehouse, mall, etc)?

Cannot use traditional firearms or poison, although pellet guns and traps are ok.

So far attempts to take them with a pellet rifle have been unsuccessful - none of the birds ever seem to settle on a perch long enough to make a good shot. Also the distance and angle (50-80 degrees up) make accurate fire difficult. Baiting has not been effective to attract them to a specific location within the building for ambush, probably because there are other potential food sources throughout (trash, etc). Lastly, the birds are wary of people, so just walking around and looking for them to try and take a shot is not feasible.

At this point, I'm thinking my best bet is baiting with rat-traps and hoping for the best(?)

Any ideas or experience would be MUCH appreciated!

 

[Iboschi]

What kind of birds?

 

[CWL]

Bird spikes. Do a search for online retailers.

We use them at potential perch locations of our house, keeps the pigeons from sitting & crapping everywhere.

 

[Brad "the butcher"]

go in at night with a helper and a large stepladderand a highpowered floodlight style light.
find where they roost and get up on the ladder(headlamp for the shooter) if you need a better angle. You will shoot a couple or 3 before they know what is up. When they start to stir, take the lights off and wait a half hour and start again.
It is what I do when needed, I work in pest control.
also make sure you are using a real pellet gun (need a license) which will fire at more than 495ft
they sell good ones firing .177 at 800 to 1000 fps for around 200$. google to find a deal

 

[coote]

I reckon you are close to being on topic. This isn't a wilderness situation, but it is as close as many people get most of the time and it involves animal psychology and hunting technology. Plus it gives us a chance to talk about traps.

Hmmm. When I think 'warehouse' and 'mall', I don't feel too hopeful for you. When big doors are open for a relatively long time, the birds will generally try to get in. Warehouses and malls everywhere are testimony to the fact that a few birds will generally find a way inside. Down here in NZ, it is mainly sparrows that are the problem.

If doors need to be kept open for vehicle entry, then there are some great quick-opening and closing roller doors that can be fitted. Sometimes even hanging a heavy clear 'door' made of strips of overlapping clear plastic might be a big help, although you have to have procedures in place to ensure there are no accidents when vehicles pass through this door with limited visibility.

The birds are coming in for something.... most likely food. If things can be kept tidy and all the food secured, then the birds are less likely to keep trying to come in.

If there are just a few birds who have established themselves, killing or trapping and relocating may clear things up.

A snare stick works. This is simply a stick with a whole lot of small nooses tied to it. As long or short as you like, but it has many overlapping nooses made from fine monofilament nylon or some other relatively strong, stiff fiber. In the old days I think they used horsehair. This would hold a sparrow, but it might not hold a pigeon. The nooses will lie all over the place, but they should be on top of the stick. The birds perch on the stick and often will get their legs snagged. Placing the stick where the birds will land on it is the trick. Perhaps you would need to fix it near a 'bird table' covered with food where there are no other handy perches.

A small cage trap is likely to work for this type of bird which is accustomed to man-made surroundings. You just have to figure out what particular bait to use.

If the birds are cunning, you might find it is hard to trap them after they've seen their buddies in trouble.

I am a big fan of a good quality air rifle fitted with a telescopic sight. Time should be taken to sight it in properly for the range you are most likely to have to use for the birds. (I find it difficult to think 'mall' with this scenario).

If the birds feed on the ground, then I would be very keen to set some sort of a trap deadfall using a figure-four trigger and an inverted basket..... or even use the cunning Arapuca bird trap as shown on old posts here or You Tube. This would be a good trap because the trapped birds won't be quite as visible to their buddies, and they won't be as distressed as they might be when fluttering wildly on a snare stick.

Tell us more! And please let us know how you get on.

Best wishes... Coote.

 

[valcas1]

Gill nets hung in the rafters of the building. Then actually make sure they don't sit still. You want them to fly around and get stuck in the monofiliment netting. Works for bats also!

 

[coote]

Brad the Butcher is on to it. Good advice.

 

[Moving Target]

These are small common sparrow-like songbirds, much smaller than a pigeon or crow, and slightly smaller than a mourning dove.

Thanks for all the advice...I'm going to try some different things out later this week!

 

[C_Kyle]

If it were me, I would use this as an opportunity to work on my hunting skills. Assuming you can already shoot one in the eye at ~30' with an air rifle, I'd work on being still, watching the birds, learning how they act over a longer period of time, say an hour, etc.

When I first decided to shoot all the squirrels in my Mom's yard, it was very difficult. I'd go outside and the hundreds of squirrels would be gone. I learned to wait in a chair for about 30 minutes and they would come back. Then they were mine. Small pest control is excellent marksmanship practice, in my opinion.

 

[Mannlicher]

set out bird seed at a known distance. Shoot them with the pellet rifle.

 

[WILLIAM.M]

http://f4bscale.worldonline.co.uk/hunting.htm

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_8_48/ai_87564356/pg_3/

 

[Kiah]

 

[Joezilla]

I know this guy who had a bunch of snakes during college. This machete-loving nut job would fill a salad bowl up with bird seed and put mouse traps in them. He kept his boa plump with dead doves and blue jays.

The boa is 34 years old and has since found a new owner. She is sorta like a hand me down.

 

[m. amos]

Try turning out the lights and just using a flashlight. They tend not to fly around much in the dark. I have some birds as pets and when they get out, It just turn out the lights and grab them.

 

[lukus]

I think the air rifle is the best way to go. I've had just about every type and caliber, and my favorite is still the Sheridan 5mm. Great accuracy, hard hitting pellet size, and the ability to choose the power level you need.

Shooting at extreme angles can be tricky. I wouldn't use a scope on the rifle. It's higher above the barrel than open sights, and that will exaggerate the margin of error. Try putting up a target at the same height and practice shooting it so you'll learn the point of aim. You'll be dropping them in no time.

 

[sixgunner455]

Live traps. Pellet rifle.

 

[Sevorius]

sticky paper mouse trap with some bird feed on it would be the easy/lazy method. sticky traps are not considered humane by some people, I'm not really sure why though. the bird sticks to the paper and you can make a clean kill shot. better than breaking its back in a conventional rodent trap and letting it slowly die of internal bleeding.. just my 2 cents.

 

[rroundy]

arapuca traps.

ryan

 

[LMT66]

These are small common sparrow-like songbirds, much smaller than a pigeon or crow, and slightly smaller than a mourning dove.

Thanks for all the advice...I'm going to try some different things out later this week!

I had this issue in my patio evergreen shrubs. The little birds were living in the leafy shrubs until the leaves fell off.
I hung up a nice big bird feeder just off the patio. All the birds hang around it but...... every day a couple falcons stalk them. When I see the falcons, i go out and hit the evergreen shrub with a broom and they little birds fly out then get picked off by the Falcons. This lasted one week. The ones left alive moved on.
You may be able to hire someone to bring in a Raptor to "play" with them for a week or two if it is a warehouse.

Then again......... The BB gun way sounds fun

This biggest thing is to prevent them from coming back in once you get rid of them.

 

[EmsRescueGuy]

How bout an Air shotgun, I have heard they can take small birds at relativley short distances, Cabela's has one and Im sure you could get it elsewhere cheaper.