Keep Birds Away: Boat Bird Scarers Buying Guide

Australia is one of the lands that are blessed with a lot of water surfaces, perfect for spending the summer and the autumn seasons on the water. A yacht party with your friends or sailing alone in your little boat can be a great way to unwind and calm your senses. However, while sailing, it’s not uncommon for birds to decide to have fun along with you and interrupt your peace by attacking your boat and settling down on it.

If you’re familiar with the frustration of birds being your most frequent “boatmates” and making a mess out of the food you happen to have with you, the ideal solution for this problem are boat bird deterrents.

Air Deterrents

Wind marine bird deterrents are the option most captains rely on while sailing. However, when looking for a spinning seagull deterrent for boats, you will come across a large variety of models on the market. These units work by spinning together with the wind, and everything that spins, waves or bounces in the wind deters the curious birds from landing on your boat.

Nowadays, these bird deterrents come in different shapes and forms. Some of them have “flags” placed on their bars, which are operated by the wind. Besides being easy to install in any area of your deck where your unwanted guests are most likely to settle down, they are also easy to uninstall if you change your mind later.

However, if your main issue is the annoying seagulls using the antennas, radars or the lamps of your boat as their lookout point, there is a special type of air deterrent made from ten rods that move in the wind to keep the intruders away from your signal devices.

After getting chased away from the deck, these little rascals tend to get angry and spread into the mast tops and the navigational lights areas of your boat. The best way to chase them away from these areas is with the help of air deterrents that work by spinning in circles together with the wind.

Visual Bird Deterrents

The visual scarers for birds are a proven method the farmers use to scare away the intruders from the fields for ages. Luckily, this method is applicable for boats too and it’s very recommended by captains worldwide. As a captain, I’m sure you’re familiar that seagulls are very persistent. However, what startles these little rascals most are their predators such as the falcons, peregrines and owls.

But, be careful when choosing a predator seagull deterrent for boats. To deliver the best effect, it should be made from aeronautical fabrics of high strength only. Also, your sewed deterrent should be able to perform chopped flights at least 10 metres high, even in the weakest breeze. Remember that birds, especially seagulls are smart, and after some time they might realise that the predator is fake if it isn’t moving around.

Audio Devices

If spotting a predator can scare shorebirds, imagine what hearing a piercing shriek would do. Luckily, the bird deterrent technology has come a long way. These audio devices feature over 20 predator sounds at different intervals to alert the shorebirds of danger. When birds hear these sounds, they become distressed and their natural instinct is to flee the area. These audio deterring devices work best on pigeons, crows, seagulls and starlings, so make sure you get one if you’re sailing in areas where there will be a lot of these birds.

Touch Devices

Touch bird deterrent for boats are low voltage electric bird scarers that are proven not to harm birds, but only to scare them away from critical places. When a bird lands on the track, this little device causes a small electric shock, teaching the birds to avoid the protected surface in the future, by presenting a powerful psychological barrier, rather than a physical one.

If you’re concerned that these electric devices are not legal, then don’t worry – they are. They are safe to be used for this purpose as they do not harm the birds but only help them learn where they shouldn’t land.

Some Other Methods

Besides choosing from the huge range of bird scarers for boats, there are some other techniques that might come in handy in certain situations.

For instance, besides visual scarers, farmers and gardeners hang CDs in their fields to keep birds at bay – which is known as the reflection method that scares shorebirds even more.

It’s not truly understood how birds are afraid of shiny objects though. Most of the theories suggest that the birds are afraid of their own reflection, and that’s why they avoid landing near areas that contain a large amount of shiny reflecting light.

Another thing that scares away shorebirds, especially the annoying seagulls is the red colour. So, make sure you put on a red hat or a shirt while you’re sailing. The birds will recognise the scary red shades, and won’t even dare to get close to your boat.

As technology is developing more and more each day, the bird deflectors for boats are becoming an essential tool you should have in your boat. So, don’t wait any longer, and get yourself one of these deterrents for care-free cruising without having to deal with uninvited guests.