For most car owners, their cars are an integral part of their life since they need them for their daily commute. When birds poop all over a car, it’s not only unsightly, but it can also result in irreversible paint damage. Here are the 11 simple ways to stop birds from pooping in your car:
Table of Contents
1. Avoid parking under trees and other poop-prone spots
It’s not uncommon to park your car near buildings, under a tree, or a light pole. However, these areas are particularly popular with birds, and you’re likely to find a couple perched in or around them.
The easiest way to determine if a given spot is prone to bird droppings is by taking a quick look on the ground in search for telltale excretion markings. If present, steer clear of the area to keep the exterior of your car clean and safe.
2. Cover your side mirrors
Have you recently noticed scratches on your side mirrors? You might have assumed that it was the handiwork of your little ones, but it could be due to birds’ beaks and talons. When birds see their reflection in side mirrors, they think they’re face-to-face with an intruder. This causes them to act aggressively, attacking their reflection by scratching and pooping on your side mirrors.
To keep this from happening, make a point of closing or covering your side mirrors whenever you intend to park your car in a spot for a long time. If you don’t have side mirror covers, improvise by using plastic bags, cardboard, or pieces of cloth.
3. Try using a car cover to keep your vehicle protected
A parked car that is protected by a car cover will deter birds and subsequently reduce the likelihood of pooping incidents. In addition to protecting against pesky birds and their toxic droppings, a car cover will also minimize the damaging effects of the sun, tree sap, acid rain, bugs, dust, and dirt on your paint work. Consider investing in a high-quality car cover that is specific to the type of vehicle you have to ensure a proper fit.
A downside to car covers is that they cannot be used as a long-term solution. This is because covering your car for extended periods can lead to condensation build-up, resulting in a rusted exterior. Car covers are also unappealing for some due to the inconvenience of removing and replacing them when you need to use the vehicle.
4. Consider using a specialty sound-emitting device
If investing in a car cover is an undesirable option for you, consider using a specialty sound-emitting device to deter birds and consequently prevent them from pooping on your car. These handy devices produce loud danger sounds that scare birds from lurking about in the area where your car is parked.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to deal with loud sounds, you can go for an ultrasonic emitter to keep birds away. These devices emit ultrasonic sound waves, which birds can hear more distinctly than humans. These sounds keep birds on a high state of alert, which makes them feel uncomfortable about landing in the area where the sonic emitter is installed.
5. Hang CDs or reflective tapes over your car
Compact discs are slowly fading into obscurity, but you can put your old ones to use by hanging them strategically to keep birds away from your car. There are several ways you can use this bird-deterring method:
– Attach the CDs to ropes
Try tying several CDs to the end of two or more ropes and then suspend them in your parking area.
– The fishing line trick
Attach multiple CDs on a fishing line and then suspend the line across the area where you typically park your car.
– Attach CDs to a piece of cloth using hot glue and magnets
Collect a couple of old compact discs (four should be enough) and create a tetrahedron or pyramid-shaped structure with them. Be sure to have the reflective sides of the CDs facing out so that the sun hits them directly.
Next, take a piece of cloth and carefully hot glue it around a magnet (a speaker magnet is a good option for this purpose as it will be strong enough to hold the cloth even on a windy day). Afterward, glue the magnet to the bottom of your CD structure. When you park your car, place the pyramid structure on top of it. Don’t worry about the magnet scratching the paint off your car – the cloth will serve as a protective barrier to prevent this. If you want to take this method to the next level, make a small shaft so the tetrahedron structure can spin and reflect light in all directions.
6. Consider changing the color of your car
As previously mentioned, birds seem to target crimson-colored cars the most. Therefore, based on this theory, you might want to respray your car and choose a color like green or white to be on the safe side.
7. Use visual deterrents to keep birds away
Birds are naturally afraid of animals such as snakes, foxes, owls, and coyotes because they prey on them. You can use this instinctual fear as a strategy to keep birds from pooping on your car. Rubber toys that come in the shape of these predators are commonly available in the market, and they come in a wide variety of sizes and designs.
To use bird predator decoys as deterrents, try attaching them to the bumper or roof of your car. You can place one or more of these visual deterrents on different parts of your vehicle to frighten incoming birds from different directions. Birds are quite clever, so you’ll want to move these decoys at regular intervals to keep up with the trick. Once a bird figures out that a decoy is nothing to be scared of you’ll have to reposition it.
Over time, birds may become accustomed to seeing a particular decoy and subsequently start ignoring it, no matter how many times you move it. If you start noticing birds comfortably perched next to your owl decoy, switch to using a rubber snake. Keep switching out the decoys until the birds stay away from your parking area completely.
8. Try using natural bird repellents
There are different natural deterrents that you can apply to keep birds away from your vehicle. Here are some homemade options you can try:
– Baking soda
Try sprinkling baking soda around the area where you park your car as well as where the birds like to perch. Birds abhor the feel of baking soda under their feet and will avoid it at all costs.
– Chili peppers mixture
If you don’t want to deal with the messiness of spreading baking soda around your car, consider using chili peppers, water, and apple cider vinegar to concoct a bird repellent spray. To prepare this mixture, crush 2 dozen chili peppers in a small bowl, and then add it to a bottle containing a half a gallon of water. Shake well, then add apple cider vinegar to the mixture. Soak several cotton balls or pieces of cloth in the mixture, and then place them strategically near your car. Upon getting a whiff of this mixture, birds will steer clear of your parking spot, saving you from having to deal with their droppings.
– Garlic oil spray
Another effective bird repelling solution involves using garlic oil spray. Birds detest the strong odor of garlic. Furthermore, garlic oil is affordable, non-toxic, and environmentally-friendly, so you don’t have to worry about harming the birds.
To make this spray, begin by crushing 8 cloves of garlic. Place the mashed garlic cloves in a glass jar and pour 2 cups of olive oil over them. Shake well before leaving the two ingredients to blend for a couple of hours. Transfer the mixture to a spray bottle and spray the areas around your parking spot.
9. Build a shelter or carport
If you’ve only had a bird poop problem for a couple of days or weeks, building a shelter or carport may sound like an extreme measure. That being said, building such a structure can save you a lot of bird-related headaches in the future, plus they can be cheaper than you might expect.
You can complete building a simple, temporary DIY shelter in a day or two, or even just a few hours if you have some help. If you get more sun than rain in your area, consider using a garden shade cloth as the roofing material for your temporary shelter. This loosely woven, hard-wearing nylon fabric is affordable, and there are different shades and densities of weave available. Most importantly, they can protect your vehicle from bird poop, sunshine, and debris.
For those who live in colder climates, a carport might be a better option. This structure can be partially or entirely enclosed in a private yard and converted into a rudimentary garage. In addition to keeping your vehicle safe from bird excretions, a carport will also provide protection from the elements.
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10. The tape method
Using tape to keep birds away from your car might seem like a strange method, but it can be quite effective if executed correctly. For the best results, purchase some double-sided sticking tape and cut it into several strips. Lay the strips out on windowsills, overhangs, and any other areas around your parking spot where birds tend to lurk. Once the avian pests arrive and start to perch, they will discover that their feet get stuck to their favorite perching spot. This will cause them to fly away since birds despise the feeling of sticky tape beneath their feet.
11. Consider using bird spikes
Although this is far from the friendliest method, bird spikes are highly effective at discouraging birds from roosting and/or perching in a particular area. These devices come in long strips which you can fix to a surface using either adhesive pads or screws. The strips have long, sharp spikes which will deter the birds from landing, let alone pooping, in the area. You can install them on windowsills, building overhangs, or even trees.
Why does the bird keep pooping on my car?
Is it pure coincidence or are they out to get you? There are a variety of reasons why birds may poop on your car. They include:
1. Where you park your car
A bird is likely to poop on your car if it is parked near/under a tree, electric wires and posts, or on the edge of a building. This is because birds tend to build nests or generally lurk in these spots. Trees that produce fruit, in particular, are generally the riskiest to park under as they attract more birds, which consequently results in more pooping incidents.
2. The color of your car
Another reason why your car may be pooped on frequently is its color. Some colors are simply more likely to trigger a bird to poop on a car. According to an informal research study conducted by U.K car parts retailer Halfords, red cars are the most pooped on by birds. Out of the 1,140 sampled vehicles, red cars comprised 18% of the total marked by birds. Blue cars followed closely in second place at 14%, and then black cars and white cars at 11% and 7% respectively. Green vehicles were the least marked ones, making up a mere 1% of those in the study.
There are a lot of different theories why birds are more likely to poop on cars of certain colors than others. Some believe that birds associate the color red with danger, and panic as a result of seeing the color, which in turn causes them to poop on vehicles with this color. Others theorize that birds tend to poop on colors with similar colors to their own plumage. However, there are no studies that back these theories.
3. Your car’s finish
The finish of a car can also trigger a poop attack from birds. If your car has a shiny and clean finish, birds may be more tempted to mark it with their excretion. This may be because they see their reflections on the surface of the car, causing them to get excited or anxious, resulting in a poop attack on your vehicle.
4. A noisy surrounding
Birds are known to have a natural fight-or-flight response. As a result, loud noises or sudden movements can easily scare them and cause them to inadvertently poop on your car.
5. Birds poop when they take flight
It’s crucial for these avian creatures to remain light to enable easy flying, so much so that they have evolved hollow bones to allow this. As a result, when a bird is preparing to take flight, it may unload to help it stay light. So, even if you park a couple of feet from a nest, you may find your car is almost always stained by bird poop.
What effect does bird poop have on your car?
Unfortunately, bird poop can damage your car paint. While it may seem harmless, bird excretion contains uric acid, which is acidic (it has a pH level of around 4) and quite corrosive. When it comes in contact with your car, it whittles away the clear top layer, and, eventually, the paint underneath it. This in turn leads to the exposure of the delicate metal chassis, making it highly susceptible to damage.
The effect of bird poop damage on a car varies depending on the size of the stain, how long it remains on the car, and whether or not it wrinkles. If you clean the excretion immediately or within a couple of hours, you might be able to prevent any damage to your car’s exterior. Paint damage.
If you leave the stains for more than 48 hours, you may start to notice wrinkled or fractured etching. This type of damage occurs when the bird poop bonds with the car paint, and is much harder to clean. After a couple of days, you may need to use harsh chemicals to remove the topic stain etching that appears on the car’s exterior.
How to get rid of bird droppings on your car
There are several different ways to remove bird poop from your vehicle safely without compromising the existing paint surface or clear coat. If you catch the stain while it’s still wet, simply wipe it with a damp paper towel or microfiber cloth. It should come straight off.
If the droppings have recently dried on the surface, spray a mixture comprising one part baking soda and two parts warm water on the affected areas and allow it to soak for around 5-10 minutes. After the time elapses, scrub the treated spot using a microfiber cloth, then rinse off with a hose.
For older or tougher stains, use WD-40 to get them off. This spray lubricant can effectively penetrate the excrement and lift it from the car’s exterior. After applying it to the poop stains, allow it to soak in for about a minute or so, then use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe it away. Alternatively, you can rinse it off with a spray hose. For the best results, keep your vehicle away from direct sunlight when using WD-40.
Final thoughts
Having to deal with bird droppings on your car is an undoubtedly unpleasant experience that any car owner would want to avoid. Fortunately, there are several effective ways to prevent birds from pooping on your vehicle, including using sound-emitting devices and bird predator decoys.
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Last update on 2023-04-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
