OTTAWA BIRD REMOVAL

BIRD REMOVAL PROCESS

Birds in Ottawa

Ottawa is a bird watcher’s paradise. There are hundreds of species that make our city home for at least part of the year. These birds come in a diverse array of sizes and colours, with a wide range of behaviours. From the bald eagle to the pileated woodpecker, bird sightings enthrall and entertain those with a watchful eye to the sky, woods or backyard in Ottawa.

Ottawa Starling Removal

While the sight of certain birds is welcomed by Ottawa residents, either because of their rarity or beauty, others can be considered a nuisance. Around Ottawa, especially where large new housing developments are common, like Barrhaven, Kanata and Orléans, the starling is the most likely cause of bird frustration for homeowners. These birds are usually black in colour, often with an iridescent shine, and were introduced to North America from Europe in the late 1800s. Since then they have spread over much of the continent and are well suited to changing urban environments in part because they are not reliant on any particular food source, changing their diet depending on what is available to them.

Starlings are also adept at finding and creating nesting sites which can be a problem for Ottawa homeowners. They make messy nests of grass and straw inside cavities, often in openings found in mature trees. Where there are few mature trees to be found, starlings will nest in cavities found on the exterior of homes. Many of Ottawa’s recent suburban housing developments are constructed on former farmland where most of the mature trees are taken down in the process and replaced with young saplings. Starlings are drawn to housing developments in large part because of food, they eat the bird seed from our feeders and manicured lawns make it easy to scoop up worms and insects. In new areas, instead of finding trees they find openings for dryer, kitchen and bathroom fan vents on the walls and soffits of houses.

Clever starlings use their beaks to lift the flaps on the vent cover to nest inside the duct. The vast majority of Skedaddle’s starling removal calls come during the spring and summer nesting season from homeowners in the communities surrounding Ottawa. Once inside the vent they pack it full of nesting material to lay their eggs. That nesting material grows over time, and Skedaddle technicians routinely take out a garbage bag or more of nesting material during the removal process. Blocked dryer and fan vents will of course prevent them function as they should but the biggest risk comes from the possibility of overheating and fire.

Skedaddle specializes in the humane removal of bird nests from vents and soffits. Our proven process includes removing the babies by hand and placing them in a temporary nesting box that is affixed next to the vent opening. The temporary nesting box allows the starling parents to feed and look after their young until they are ready to fledge, usually within 3 to 4 weeks. With the babies looked after we can then clean out or replace the vent duct and protect the vent opening with a screen.

Pigeon Challenges in Ottawa

Closer to Ottawa’s core, challenges with birds take on a different form. The bird most likely to trouble home and business owners in the city is the pigeon. Like the starling, pigeons originate in Europe but have long since established themselves in the urban centres of North America.

Pigeons like to roost and nest on hard surfaces as opposed to tree limbs and where they once made their home on the edge of rock cliffs overlooking the sea, in cities, they enjoy plenty of concrete, stone and steel. Cities also offer plenty of food, some which is left for them intentionally and the rest they scrounge up from leftovers and poor sanitation.

Pigeons tend to gravitate toward buildings and structures of large scale. That makes them more of a nuisance for commercial, industrial and high rise apartments than single family homes. Once they have established themselves in a given area they can make things pretty messy. Balconies, ledges, HVAC units and other enclosed spaces are their favourite places. Pigeon droppings are not only highly corrosive they can also be a health hazard. In large concentrations, pigeon droppings have been associated with diseases like histoplasmosis and cryptococcosis. Proper protection equipment is critical to safely cleaning up after a pigeon infestation.

There are many techniques and deterrents available to resolve and prevent pigeon problems. No two buildings or structures are the exact same and most successful removals require a customized strategy. Skedaddle team has over 30 years of experience designing and installing complex netting, wire, spike and visual deterrent systems to help Ottawa building owners protect their property from pigeons. No matter the bird problem you face, trust Skedaddle to provide you with full service bird removal, clean up and prevention services.

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Bird Facts

Birds are fascinating but messy creatures. While their home-building habits are not particularly neat, it is their droppings that create the greatest concern for homeowners. When birds set up camp on your property, their droppings have the potential to carry a number of diseases if cleaned or handled improperly, including salmonellosis and cryptococcosis.

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