A bird control spike, also known as an anti-roosting spike or roost modification, is a device consisting of long, needle

Needle

-Crafting:* Knitting needle, a tool for knitting, not as sharp as a sewing needle* Sewing needle, a long slender tool with a pointed tip* Upholstery needle, a tool for upholstery, generally thick and curved-Botany:* Pine needle, the adult leaf of a pine tree...

-like rods used for bird control

Bird control

Bird control is the generic name for methods to eliminate or deter pest birds from landing, roosting and nesting.Bird control is important because pest birds can create health-related problems through their feces, including histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, and psittacosis. Bird droppings may also...

. They can be attached to building ledges, street light

Street light

A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...

ing, and commercial signage to prevent wild or feral

Feral

A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...

 birds from perching or roosting. Birds can produce large quantities of unsightly and unhygienic

Hygiene

Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...

 feces

Feces

Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...

, and some birds have very loud calls

Bird song

Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...

 that can be inconvenient for nearby residents, especially at night. As a result, bird control spikes are used to deter these birds without causing them harm or killing them.

Styles and usage

Bird control deterrent spikes are normally around 1 feet (30.5 cm) long, and work by reducing the area available for birds to land on. This forces larger varieties of birds, such as seagulls, pigeons, crow

Crow

Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...

s and vulture

Vulture

Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...

s, to land elsewhere. As the birds do not come into contact with the spikes, the birds go unharmed. As a result, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...

 (RSPB) recommends bird control spikes for deterring pigeons from gardens.

Described as "the most effective (type of) stand-alone bird deterrent", bird control spikes can be placed along ledges, walls, on top of commercial signage, closed circuit television cameras and in rain gutter

Rain gutter

A rain gutter is a narrow channel, or trough, forming the component of a roof system which collects and diverts rainwater shed by the roof....

s, in order to prevent birds from perching on the surfaces. Bird control spikes are most common in city centres

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 and coastal areas, where feral birds are more common and more likely to come into conflict with humans. In addition, killing or harming birds without a valid reason is illegal in some areas; for example the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom and was implemented to comply with the Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 forbids killing wild birds that are not causing serious damage to property or posing a serious risk to human health, which puts pressure on authorities and landowners to find non-lethal bird control methods.

As well as being used to control wild birds, bird control spikes see limited use in preventing larger climbing animals such as squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

s, racoon

Racoon

Racoon is a Dutch rock band, formed in 1997. Their first big appearance was at the 1999 Noorderslagfestival. First album Till Monkeys Fly appeared in January 2000, produced by Michael Schoots . The first single, Feel Like Flying, became a hit and got a lot of airplay on the Dutch radiostation 3FM...

s and snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

s from crossing an area.

Some bird control deterrent spikes are electrified, using the same principle as an electric fence

Electric fence

An electric fence is a barrier that uses electric shocks to deter animals or people from crossing a boundary. The voltage of the shock may have effects ranging from uncomfortable, to painful or even lethal...

 to increase effectiveness, and the distress call of the shocked bird can frighten others in the area. However, such devices cause unnecessary harm to birds, and are therefore illegal in some areas, such as the United Kingdom. Sharp-tipped bird control spikes are illegal in much of the rest of the world, and are unsuitable for areas which are regularly accessible for humans. As a result, some companies manufacture special blunted spikes for use where sharp spikes are dangerous or illegal. However, the blunt spikes are less effective at deterring birds, and cannot block climbing animals.

Alternatives

The spikes can become clogged by leaves, debris and bird feathers. If left unchecked, this can allow birds to perch easily on top. In addition, spikes can make buildings appear less attractive or untidy, especially landmark buildings. In these cases, other methods of control must be used, such as bird scarer

Bird scarer

A bird scarer is any one of a number devices designed to scare birds, usually employed by farmers to dissuade birds from eating recently planted arable crops....

s playing bird distress calls or shining bright flashing lights at the required areas. Walls and ledges can also be modified to include a sloped surface, as birds cannot stand on the slanted surface and seek other perches. Other methods include netting, wire, mesh, gel, and scaring devices such as scarecrow

Scarecrow

A scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...

s.

See also

• Animal repellent
  Animal repellent
  Animal repellents are products designed to keep certain animals away from objects, areas, people, plants, or other animals.-Overview:Repellents generally work by taking advantage of an animal's natural aversion to something, and often the thing chosen is something that the animal has learned to...
  
  
• Barbed tape
• Barbed wire
  Barbed wire
  Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
  
  
• Pest control
  Pest control
  Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy.-History:...
  
  
• Scarecrow
  Scarecrow
  A scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...