Birds Pooping on my Property (Denver, Colorado Springs: condo, homes, buy)

[lurtsman]

Following my trend of things that may occur for a new resident of Colorado, I have a question about Colorado law.

What are the legal rights of a home owner in El Paso county when their neighbor insists on feeding pigeons? The pigeons are pooping all over other people's decks and vehicles. The poop is carried in from the deck by shoes, and messes up the house.

Note: There is no HOA. I prefer not to have one, but it seems there should be some resort here.

[Terytee]

Lurts,

I would suggest filling out a code-enforcement complaint. To my knowledge, there's only like 1 guy for the whole town, but I've had to "rat-on" some bad neighbors in the past, and the issues were resolved....if only for a lil' while. Good luck.

Code Enforcement Complaint Form - Colorado Springs Police Department

[Terytee]

I'm sure you've already thought of it, but you can also buy one of those plastic "decoy" owls and put in on your back deck. That might frighten off the pigeons for a lil' while.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Terytee

I'm sure you've already thought of it, but you can also buy one of those plastic "decoy" owls and put in on your back deck. That might frighten off the pigeons for a lil' while.

They do work, maybe not totally or on all types of birds, but they do help.

We had a swallow infestation in our hood the other year. They love to build their mud nests under the eaves of homes, at the peak, which might muck up the exterior coating / stucco. Swallows and other birds also leave their droppings all over your deck and deck furniture. Nasty.

Swallows are protected by the Migratory Bird Act, however, you may knock down their nests by hosing them away, but to be legal it has to be done early in the year before there are any eggs or fledglings in the nest, or in the fall after they leave for the season. One way to keep swallows (and many other birds) from messing up your property is to hang flappy plastic strips from the eaves. I buy those shiny aluminum-looking "happy birthday" banners from the party store and cut them into strips (@16 x 2 inches) and hang them near the peak of the eaves. I also hang them from the porch roof which is over the entry door and has a ledge where birds like to alight and await tasty insects to fly past - and mess up the doormat with their droppings. One 6-8 foot banner will provide strips for many years. The motion of the strips flapping in the wind and the reflection of sunlight is enough to make the birds go elsewhere. Our doormat stays clean these days. Clear plastic strips work just as well.

Not sure these techniques will work on pigeons.

ACE Hardware and others sell the plastic "scarecrow" owls and at various prices. Our owl has a head that swivels in the breeze which gives it added realism and may be scarier looking to other birds and insects. Only downside with the owls is they are hollow (head too) and ours became a wasp condo; just fill it with spray foam to keep wasps out. During the wee hours of the night we often hear another owl serenading our owl - but the poor suitor never gets lucky. Awww

[Terytee]

That's hilarious! I've had the same problem with doves building nests between my eave and rain gutter.

About a year ago....round Christmas, I was walking the perimeter of my house, and found a mess o' feathers in my back yard......like something got in a fight with something bigger....and lost.

I figured it was the remnants of a bird, due to a stray cat or something....there wasn't much of anything left...just a mess of feathers on the ground.

Later that same afternoon, I happened to look out into my back yard from the upper deck, and saw a brown owl sitting in the one of my bare-limbed trees. It was huge! It looked like a huge brown basketball with eyes! It was amazing, and scared the heck out of me, it was so big.

I thought, "Ah....that must've been what took out the smaller bird...or whatever it was!"
I didn't even know owls lived in our area. Oddly enough, I've never seen it since.

[otowi]

There are 1000's of owls here! You probably saw a Great Horned Owl. The reason you may not notice them that much is that they are nocturnal and blend in very well to their surroundings.

[Sonic_Spork]

I would love to see an owl...I hear them sometimes but can't seem to spot them.

We had barn swallows beginning a nest right above our front door last year. Before they could get beyond the first daubs of mud, I hung some reflective plastic up there...it didn't look very classy but it convinced them to relocate their efforts.

I actually caught attitude from multiple people about this, ah the temerity of me not wanting birds pooping all over my front stoop and raising their young above the door where we have to enter and exit. How dare I interfere with nature! And they eat bugs! And they're so cute! Whatever. We did them no harm, and there are other nest sites available. Heck, I wouldn't have minded them being elsewhere under our eaves...just not right above the darn door! They get territorial when the nests are complete, dive bomb you when you're coming and going...it's not so cute then. Plus the nests are usually infested with parasitical insects which I do NOT want entering my home, and believe me they can.

I did a little research when I had this issue. There are actually products you can buy, adhesive strips with fishing line dangling from them, which are nearly invisible but provide enough of a barrier to deter barn swallows when stuck to the ceiling near where they want to nest.

EDIT: Sorry, don't know much about deterring pigeons, but they are such a nuisance in some cities that falcons have been brought in to prey upon them. I remember living in Cincinnati, the city was overrun with them and they really dirtied up the place.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by otowi

There are 1000's of owls here! You probably saw a Great Horned Owl. The reason you may not notice them that much is that they are nocturnal and blend in very well to their surroundings.

Every night game of the Skysox that I've been to we've seen an owl that flies around and sits on the wire that holds up the foul ball net. We often see a rabbit in the outfield too.

[Colorado Rambler]

When I lived in Manitou Springs, there was an owl that apparently roosted somewhere near my house. I'd often hear a few gentle hoots from it when I happened to wake up just as it was coming home. I've also once seen a HUGE barn owl perched on the rail along I-25 between the Springs and Denver. I've always checked for it since when I go past that same spot, but -alas - no repeat sightings.

[otowi]

Many people who think they hear owls are actually hearing doves - mourning doves and even eurasian collared doves sound a lot like an owl and will 'hoot' at night sometimes. Sometimes you can't hear the 'up' note of the mourning dove so it sounds a lot like an owl. One way to tell if you're hearing a Great Horned Owl is the rhythm of the call - they say, "Who's Awake? Me too." Signs of Spring: Report Your Observations!