Help! How to get rid of pidgeons on the roof

Thanks mrswoo now I know why neighbours (who throw bread onto their garage roof which is attached to my garage roof) have several windmills in their garden. I will try using them near the plants the pigeons seem to like squashing.

House martins used to be a problem with a lot of houses where we used to live and many people put up netting. The trouble is that they poo just before entering the nest - which is frequently just above the bedroom windows - so poo hardened daily on the windows. They managed to miss our windows so we enjoyed their company. Then one year they all just stopped coming.

I put bird food out for sparrows, robins and blue tits and I don't know how to stop pigeons scoffing it all. Should I put a sign up, saying No Pigeons!

Here's my favourite Tom Lehrer song:
"Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

www.bing.com/videos/search?q=poisoning+pigeons+in+the+park+youtube&qpvt=poisoning+pigeons+in+the+park+youtube&view=detail&mid=48AB48C2B695BE1FCA1D48AB48C2B695BE1FCA1D&&FORM=VRDGAR

Im watching this thread with interest as its just today Ive ordered the spikes mentioned on this thread. Im glad others have suggested them. There's also a gel you can buy that looks like flames to the pigeon and seemingly deters them from setting down. Im waiting until Monday before I call the company for more information.

We have a lot of pigeons round us. The guy over the road puts food out for them and not only do the pigeons come we also get seagulls. The mess is a nuisance - it's on the windows, on the cars and the birds thunder around on our conservatory roof especially at the moment when they seem to be mating. On top of that the neighbour put up a huge pigeon loft last year which was full of them - admittedly he didn't let them out as they were racing birds but they did make a lot of noise. He's deconstructed 2/3rds of it now but there are still a few. The other birds make a mess too especially when they've been eating berries - then we get a couple of ducks ..............

Ours are the feral type you see in towns and at the seaside. I love wood pigeons, we had two wandering around the garden last night, they do no harm. They only visit though on an evening when the feral ones have gone. They make me laugh all kissing and cooing just to get his wicked way then they wander off separately. ?

Just out of interest are these pigeons mainly the feral sort that live in towns and cities?
We have mainly wood pigeons. Great fat things. and they seem to always be mating.

We live in a flat with a balcony, a couple of years ago a pair of wood pigeons nested in a large flower pot. I thought it was quite amusing at first but then came the eggs followed by the baby birds. We were literally stuck indoors until they all flew off one June evening. They left the most indescribable mess behind as they used to hang their backsides over the edge of the flower pot and poop straight onto the balcony. Now every spring I go to the Poundshop and buy plastic “windmills” to put in the flower pots. The pigeons still come to check out the possibility of nesting with us but thankfully the whirring windmills have so far proved to be an excellent deterrent. Don’t think they would be much used on a roof though.

I am in the same situation. I live in a bungalow and so the roof isn’t as upright as a house so the pigeons are on it all the time. The neighbour next door feeds them bread and yesterday I counted 28 pigeons. It’s been going on for five or so years and you wouldn’t believe the mess. Spikes wouldn’t help as they sit on the roof. I have no idea how to approach the subject with the neighbour but wish I had nipped it in the bud. Also we have rats literally one came on the back step at the French doors last week because she feeds the pigeons. The problem is the smaller birds don’t get to eat anything because of the pigeons. I don’t want to get into an argument with her life is too short but I consider it to be so thoughtless and selfish of someone else’s property. Also the noise they make all flying up when you go in the garden is awful. So I sympathise so much x

Feel for you we had wood pigeons nesting under our solar panels last year and were unable to go out and sit on our patio.. for dead babies,eggs, piles of poo etc.. One Day I counted 27 on the roof opposite ..The only way we managed to get rid of them is by paying for very expensive netting to go around the panels... it took a while but they have mostly gone although as we have trees behind our garden we'll always have some around... ggrr I hate them ( P>S Love other birds, but cannot feed them as it encourages the pigeons)

Why were the housemartin nests a problem?

A few years ago we had a housemartin problem they built 12 nests along the front of the bungalow, we ended up netting part of the eaves especially over the windows and allowed 3 nests to remain.
Don't worry about removing nuisance nests on your house the council are not going to fine you for that, spikes are the answer for pigeons but are expensive to install.

We have many pigeons in our area and they provide much comic fun as they cannot land in a tree for toffee. They flap dementedly and crash land. It never seems to do them any harm or deter them from doing it again. They also fly into our windows, again with no harm done, and leave a greasy bird shape marked on the pane.

They sit on our chimney pots and their cooing is amplified down the flue providing the sound of summer.

I can see, however, that bird poo is not so amusing and I would go for the bird spikes if I were the OP.

Big old fat wood pigeons here learned to body slam feeder meant for little birds. Seed then scattered on patio. They gobbled it up and then left the biggest bird poos. Couldn’t cope with clearing it up. So sadly stopped with the bird feeder. Also had grey squirrel doing ridiculous antics to get at seed. They are mental.

A lot of places near me have got the bird scaring kites.
www.scarem.co.uk/

We have house martins besting in our eves every year. They make a terrible mess on the window and path below but I love to see the parents bringin g food to the babies .

I'd go for the plastic kestrel. Love it!

We run a food shop in a building which had been neglected . The pigeons were so bad along with their poop we were told by environmental health to remove them. A pest control person left a big net in the old building they roosted in and gathered them up and drove them away.
Unfortunately he mustn't have taken them far enough before releasing them and they flew straight back!

However that was a year ago and by demolishing the building they roosted in, there are far fewer now.

* LynnB59*
have the path all dug up, and replaced with a moat
I love that! Please can I have one?

grannysue05 Yes, it's horrible and very slimy to clear up. It is good for the garden though! If you can collect it! If possible, put down newspaper and compost the paper with it. However the rain can spoil this cunning plan. Any dry leaves, the leaves off the rhubarb - which spread over the patio will brighten it up - or even some stuff you can buy at the garden centre, which you can roll up and unroll at night-time.

The above are a bit of a chore, but so is all that path washing. I wish you lots of luck!

Could you put a roof over the walkway?
Very attractive wooden addition to the garden?

these sort of plastic spikes do a great job

www.birdspikesonline.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImd7lwJXE2wIViRrTCh3MtAN8EAAYASAAEgL8EfD_BwE

Thank you all so much for the helpful advice...even the amusing ones.
I am going to look into the plastic spikes and the fake owl for the roofline.

If you put up wire netting, rather than string netting, birds are less likely to be killed by getting stuck in it.

Metal or plastic spikes where the birds perch ought to deter them.

Borrow a cat for a day or so, or just some used cat litter! We have only ever been bothered by pigeons in the interval between the death of one cat and the arrival of its successor.

A cut out cardboard cat, hawk or owl stuck to your window might deter them too.