Birds are incredible beings. From time immemorial, they have played significant roles in human society as they even hold strong symbolism in some parts of the world. Sometimes, having them around can be a source of pure bliss.
However, having them in some places such as your garage might create some nuisance. This is a common problem that many have tried different methods to solve. If you’re also experiencing this challenge, this article is for you.
Here, we’ll be looking at 15 ways to keep birds out of your garage. We’ll also consider why birds might be finding your garage as an attractive and cozy destination.
Let’s go!
Read: Keep Lizards out of garage
Why Do Birds Like Garages?
There are cases of people moving into their house and getting used to having birds in their garage. They do not consider it a thing until all efforts to keep the bird out of their garage prove abortive. So, having birds in your garage is a thing. But why your garage of all places?
Well, sometimes, living out in open areas with large cornfields, plant life, or plenty of trees naturally contemplates that you will be having a good number of birds around from time to time. But what happens when you don’t even any plant life that could attract birds? You need not worry; there’s an explanation.
Recall that birds are free animals. So, they can fly almost anywhere and everywhere. Therefore, when a garage door is wide open, birds see it as a great landing destination. They may be in search of a nest or food.
When bluebirds, sparrows, hummingbirds, and songbirds, perceive light from a crack or a garage window, they enter that garage. Birds such as woodpeckers may linger outside a garage in search of a nest. In any case, creating an attractive landing destination in your garage for birds will automatically draw them there.
Now, here’s the twist: in some countries, birds are protected by state and federal laws. As such, if you must remove birds, you must do so humanely. And, of course, without causing injury to the bird or endangering yourself.
For instance, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 stamps out the capturing, killing, trading, selling, and transportation of various bird species. As such, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Department of Interior must authorize such bird handling. To guard against concerns that typically arise from these causes, we have written this article to suggest ways to sidestep these concerns.
As you may have observed, birds typically fly upwards when they want to escape a garage, even where there’s an open door. So, the best way to go about this is to catch the bird or lure them without injuring them and releasing them. Stay calm while you do this, as a frantic reaction will only frighten the bird, thereby causing them to flutter around your garage in a frenzy.
Now, you know what to do when they are in. Well, let’s tell you how to prevent them from even getting in. And more things to do in case they come in.
15 Unique Ways to Keep Birds Out of Your Garage
1. Ensure You Close your garage doors
This is obvious, but you should never underestimate its effectiveness. Guess what, it is perhaps the most useful method of keeping birds from creating homes in garages.
Ensure you shut your garage doors at all times. This removes any possibility of having a bird in your garage. If you prefer to keep your garage doors open, then you will find other methods useful.
2. Reflect Variations of Light
Another hack to keeping birds out of your garage includes the use of reflective tape. For this to work perfectly, you must ensure that the reflective tape is dangling in an open field. Note that this will not work if you fix it in one spot.
Alternatively, you may also use CDs by hanging them on strings. This way, every movement these CDs make in the wind will reflect different shades of light. Birds do not find these reflections attractive. So, this keeps them away from your garage.
3. Hawk or Owl Decoy
Hawks and owls are predatory birds, usually feared by other birds. This is why having them permanently fixed to your garage is an idea worth trying. However, a hawk or owl decoy might be a bit complicated as it can also work perfectly only when you tick the necessary boxes.
But the idea itself is straightforward: put a hawk or owl decoy inside your garage. But more importantly, find a hawk or owl decoy that creates sound or moves. For this purpose, stationery decoys may not be that effective, but they are definitely worth the try, especially when you combine them with various methods.
4. Lure the Birds Out
As stated earlier, hummingbirds find light and bright colors attractive. So, the trick here is to lure the birds towards the garage door using the same bright-colored objects. You will arrange the objects in a succession that leads to the garage door.
For instance, after opening the garage door, place a light on the bonnet of a car, place another light a few feet above the bonnet, and then finally, place another attractive color in open sunlight immediately outside the garage door. After this, darken your garage so that the only available light will be at the garage door. As the light attracts the bird, it finds its way out of your garage.
5. Create Repulsive Sounds
While sounds typically attract birds, sounds can also repel them. For this reason, you can also buy sound machines.
Sound machines will produce diverse tones, and at frequencies that only birds can interact with. Obnoxious sound frequencies repel birds and get them out of your garage.
Read: Can you run a generator in a garage?
6. Do Not Store Nesting Materials
Often, when a bird flies into a garage, it was attracted by some element or item in that object – and this is not about colors or light only. It might be items that might be comfortable for nesting.
So, for you to eliminate any chance of having a bird in your garage, you must keep away nesting items out of your garage.
7. Cover the Windows
When a bird sees the light emitting out of your window, they are typically attracted to it. This is due to their false assumption that they can fly through the door window or stand-alone window.
To reduce this attractant, use an object to cover the window or block out light. This reduces light attraction or even eliminates it. Even more, with this, you will have secured your house not only from birds but also from thieves. Overall, this is a great idea.
8. Keep Food Away from the Garage
Apart from nesting places, birds also go in search of food. And when your garage has little or even abundance of them, then you might have thrown an open invitation to birds.
What you must then do is to keep away food items from your garage. Alternatively, if you cannot keep them away, keep them out of sight. Birds have powerful visions, but their vision is limited to what is open to their view. So, keep food away or out of sight.
9. Make Balloons
You can also deter birds by making balloons and putting them up. However, brightly colored balloons are the best here as they help create the illusion of predators from these birds’ large eyes. Birds don’t like predators; they don’t like brightly colored balloons too.
So, when you have them up, they will surely stay away.
10. Use Your Cats
If you own a cat, then your problem is solved. Cats typically chase off birds. Having some of them is a great way to keep birds out of your garage.
What you have to do is give these cats free access to your garage and see the magic work faster than you could imagine.
11. Install Screen Doors
One thing most people do not often consider is screen doors. The fact is that apart from their general use as entry doors, they can also be used to cover the opening of garage doors.
This is perfect for those who love to spend time in their garage. Good for maximum privacy, too – including privacy from birds.
12. Prevent Landing by Mounting Obstacles
When a bird finds it challenging to land on your roof or garage, there’s a high chance it will choose a different nesting location. You can use bird wires, boards, or glazes to prevent them from landing on your garages.
For bird wires, place it along the ledge or roof of your building. For boards, place them on your garage ledge at precisely 45 degrees angle. For glazes, coating the building’s roof glazes to a slippery and hard form is a great option.
13. Use Visuals
You can use other visuals to scare birds away. Wooden replicas and silhouettes and plastic images of foxes, raccoons, and coyotes are visuals that have worked in many places.
Even barriers between awnings and windows and windsocks can deter these birds from your garage. It is an inexpensive bird control option you should be willing to try.
14. Restrict Bird Access with the Use of Nettings
You can place nettings in your windows or garage eaves and shreds, which would have granted access to birds. Besides, you can use nettings to block crevices and holes, giving access to your garage.
Beams where your bird nest is a great option to place your net. However, in all cases, the netting should be top quality and of durable polypropylene.
Also, closely attach the netting so that it will be impossible for birds to perch around it. Mesh that can blend perfectly with the environment is your best shot. This may look a bit cumbersome, but it is very effective.
15. Provide Better Alternatives
Again, birds do not fly into your garage, except there’s something they’re looking for. So, a great method to keep them away from your garage includes giving them an alternative – a better one.
So, one or two birdhouses with bird feeders will do. When you provide birds will shelter, their chances of finding shelter in your garage are slim. And when you add food to it, the chances are almost nonexistent.
Conclusion
Birds are beautiful creatures, and sometimes it’s an amazing sight to have them around. At the same time, when they begin to nest inside our garage or even poop inside them, we want them to go away.
The law understands this, which is why state and federal laws allow us to keep birds away and not hurt them. In this article, we have looked at 15 ways to keep them out without harming them. These methods include decoys, repulsive smell, and sounds, luring birds with bright light, and providing better nesting alternatives.
So, get to work and stay convenient.