Have you taken the time to decorate your apartment balcony with beautiful green plants?
Perhaps you even created a small sitting corner to enjoy your breakfast or evening tea in the fresh air.
Apartment balconies make up a wonderful space for residents to take a break from indoor life and breathe in the fresh air.
Unfortunately, you can’t really do that if your apartment balcony is frequented by pigeons!
It would end up being smelly and messy. What a downer after all of the work you put in to decorate your balcony!
In this article, we will cover some simple and humane methods to keep pigeons away from your apartment balcony.
How to Keep Pigeons Away from Your Apartment Balcony
Don’t worry; just because your apartment balcony has gotten infested by pigeons, it doesn’t mean you can take back hold of it.
The pigeons might have made it their nesting home, but there are numerous ways of getting rid of them.
It is best to get rid of the pigeons ASAP since they can easily swarm up on your balcony and take over in large numbers.
Pigeons also carry diseases and make a mess, so you definitely don’t want them hoarding your balcony!
Today, we will discuss how to keep pigeons away from your apartment balcony so you can enjoy spending time there.
All of the tips mentioned below are humane ways of shooing the pigeons away and ensuring that they don’t return.
Remember, it is important to respect all life, even if you are trying to get rid of them.
Consider Netting off Your Apartment Balcony
Completely netting off your apartment balcony is the most effective way of preventing pigeons, and other city birds, from entering the space.
It is quick, and there are zero chances of birds nesting at all.
But it’s an expensive method. If you’re looking to get rid of the Pigeon menace completely, I recommend you get the bird netting done (I got it done 2 years ago)
It is important to first consider just how easily your balcony can be netted off.
Closely examine the shape of your balcony, its outer dimensions, and other factors before you opt for this trick to get rid of pigeons.
We recommend getting an expert’s opinion before you try to install netting around your balcony.
The expert will be able to guide you on the right kind of netting to use, whether it is a good option for your balcony in particular, and how much it would cost.
In most cases, they will recommend using a Nylon net, as these can’t be damaged by the pigeons
The netting will also ruin the aesthetic appeal of your balcony, which you have probably spent a good dollar to create and design.
Moreover, if your balcony has views of nature, you might not want to ruin it with netting. This might even decrease the overall value of your apartment!
So, be sure to consider all of these factors before you start placing the nets!
Note: If you buy the net yourself and only get someone to do the installation, it would be a lot cheaper for you. Also, before installing the net, make sure you have the landlords permission (if living in a rented apartment)
Install Bird Spikes around the Balcony
Another great tactic to keep pigeons off your balcony is by using anti-roosting bird spikes.
These spikes work excellently as they stop the pigeons from landing on your balcony at all.
When the birds aren’t able to land there, they won’t consider it a safe spot to make their nest, of course!
You can get these spikes from your local hardware store. They are thin, stainless steel rods that are made from a UV-resistant base.
Simply set up them all across your apartment balcony’s railings, and you are good to go!
The biggest advantage of these spikes is that it keeps away all birds, be it pigeons, crows, sparrows, or other city birds.
So, you will never have to worry about randomly finding a nest with bird eggs on your balcony.
The reason why so many experts recommend these spikes is because they have blunt tips.
This means that they will keep the birds away but without causing them any harm, unlike bird traps.
Expert Advice: To begin with, notice the places where pigeons come and land on your balcony. Is it the railing, is it the table, or the AC unit? First, put these bird spikes in these places, and if you see pigeons come and sit somewhere else, then add the spikes there too.
Hang Pigeon Reflectors in Your Balcony
A pigeon reflector is a strip or a disc that reflects sunlight.
These are small and lightweight and keep moving when hung (like wind chimes).
When Pigeons or any other birds are flying towards your balcony to land on the railing (or any other space), these reflectors will shine and confuse the bird.
This is a cheap and easy-to-install method that will start showing the results right away. If you have a large balcony in your apartment, you can install multiple reflectors.
Before installing these, notice where pigeons come and land on your balcony. Then install these close to that spot. This way, when pigeons are flying towards it, they will see the glare and it confuses them.
For best results, use it with other methods such as bird spikes and pigeon repellent.
Invest in an Ultrasound Repellent
Birds are naturally blessed with a great sense of hearing, and pigeons are no exception.
Pigeons have really strong hearing and the sharpest of senses. This helps them hear the calls of other predatory birds and keep themselves safe. It even helps them look for a mate!
You can use their hearing sense to your advantage by getting rid of pigeons using an ultrasound pigeon repellent.
These repellent machines emit sounds that are similar to bird distress calls and sounds that predatory birds make.
They have different settings, pre-recorded bird calls, and other tricks to help you get rid of your pigeon problem.
Simply set up the repellent on your balcony, and any bird within a 1-acre radius of your apartment will stay far away!
Leave the machine on for a few hours each day, and soon enough, your balcony will become a no-go zone for those pesky pigeons.
Use Repellent Sprays
If you live in a city where it rains often, a pigeon repellent spray could be a great way to get rid of these birds!
Pigeon repellent sprays make use of the urine of predatory birds to scare the pigeons away.
Most repellent sprays use concentrated urine, but there are some that contain chemical recreations that work in a similar manner.
Just spray the repellent across your balcony daily for a few weeks, and your neighborhood pigeons will naturally start associating it with a predatory bird.
However, you are probably thinking of how doing this might make your balcony smell like bird pee, and you’d be right. It does cause the smell to linger.
That is why this tip is only recommended for cities where it rains frequently. The rainwater would wash the repellent off, thus making the smell disappear too.
If you aren’t too fond of the idea of spraying bird pee around your balcony, we do have an alternative.
You can make a homemade repellent spray that consists of chili pepper and water with a few drops of vinegar.
Spray this mixture on the rails of your balcony and watch as the pigeons fly away. The chili in the spray would irritate their feet, so they will no longer land on your balcony.
As you try out this technique, be careful with handling the spray.
You should make sure no children have access to the balcony once you have sprayed the mixture and avoid any direct physical contact with the rails.
Install a Bird-Scarer
Pigeons are known for being bullies among the bird population in most cities.
However, they are not predatory birds and have actually been observed to steer clear of areas with eagles and falcons.
This is because falcons and hawks often hunt pigeons and make them their food.
You can make the most of this bird population food chain by setting up falcons in your apartment balcony
No, we don’t mean bringing in real falcons into your home. That would hardly be safe and quite redundant, considering you’d just be swapping one kind of bird for another.
Instead, you can buy or even DIY pigeon-scarers shaped as falcons and hawks. These scarers are 3D models of these predatory birds.
They are life-sized, and you might even be able to find one that makes erratic movements or replicates a falcon’s hunting call.
When pigeons notice that you have a falcon on your balcony, they are bound to stay as far away as possible.
Remember to move the bird-scarer from one position to another every few hours.
Pigeons are smart animals and will quickly notice the robotic movements if your bird-scarer isn’t moving around.
Buy a Motion-Activated Sprinkler
This one might be a little on the expensive side, so only try it out once you have given the other options a go.
Motion-activated sprinklers are available in most hardware and home stores. So, all you’d need to do is set up the sprinkler in the balcony to face the rails and let it do its job.
Anytime a pigeon lands on the rails of your balcony, the sprinkler would get activated.
It works by letting out a quick spray of water in the direction of the movement, which is the pigeon in this case.
Most sprinklers can detect motion from 40 feet away, so the bird doesn’t even need to land to be shoo-ed away!
Once the pigeons have been sprayed a handful of times, they’ll know better than to land on your balcony.
Water is completely safe and non-toxic for pigeons, so you don’t need to worry about the spray harming the birds in any way.
Just remember not to enter your balcony without turning off the sprinkler first. You don’t want to end up sprayed like the birds too!
Install a Bird-Scarer
Pigeons are known for being bullies among the bird population in most cities.
However, they are not predatory birds and have actually been observed to steer clear of areas with eagles and falcons.
This is because falcons and hawks often hunt pigeons and make them their food.
You can make the most of this bird population food chain by setting up falcons in your apartment balcony!
No, we don’t mean bringing in real falcons into your home. That would hardly be safe and quite redundant, considering you’d just be swapping one kind of bird for another.
Instead, you can buy or even DIY pigeon-scarers shaped as falcons and hawks. These scarers are 3D models of these predatory birds.
They are life-sized, and you might even be able to find one that makes erratic movements or replicates a falcon’s hunting call.
When pigeons notice that you have a falcon on your balcony, they are bound to stay as far away as possible.
Remember to move the bird-scarer from one position to another every few hours.
Pigeons are smart animals and will quickly notice the robotic movements if your bird-scarer isn’t moving around.
Make Sure There is No Food or Water Around
As long as birds can find food and water near your balcony, they will continue to land on it.
Pigeons are some of the hungriest city birds that seem to have a special knack for finding food.
So, if you have been placing leftover bread or a bowl of water for the birds nearby, you should know that they will be coming inside your balcony and making it their home.
Instead of putting food near your apartment, try to feed the birds at a nearby park.
This is a great way to make use of leftover food without ending up with a pigeon infestation on your hands.
Remove Nesting Materials
Lastly, before you try out any of the abovementioned ways of getting rid of pigeons, there is one thing you should do first.
Start by removing all nesting materials and dropping them from your balcony.
As long as you have nesting materials lying around, different pigeon families will keep trying to enter your space and make it their own.
This is because they view your balcony as a safe spot for them to nest in.
Also, you should keep in mind that pigeon poop is quite corrosive. It has a high acidic content which can destroy the building materials of your balcony.
Therefore, the first thing you should do is clean off any signs of pigeon life from your balcony.
Then you can get to work on safeguarding it using repellents and wires to ensure the pigeons don’t take over your space again.
Note that not all methods to keep pigeons away will work in all situations. You might have to try multiple methods. If you want to take care of this in one shot, I recommend you get the bird net installed on your balcony.
I tried some of the techniques, but eventually ended up installing a bird net, and now I have been able to enjoy the balcony for more than 2 years now.
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