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Simple electronic bird scarer

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boatsman

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We have a problem with pigeons roosting on our balcony and fouling it. I would like to build a simple silent bird scarer. I have tried using old cds and thin nylon fishing lines but I have found that the birds get used to them after a while. I am looking for a simple electronic circuit I can build that will generate an inaudible sound that to a pigeon sounds like a predator. Any information would be appreciated.
 
Great project , it is detecting the pigeons that is the main problem, don't think PIR would do it , I had a ultrasonic and audible scarer (pir) protecting a pond . The heron still emptied it of fish... perhaps one of the moving realistic fake owls would work...
 
I'm tired of the little devils pooing all over my car, but the wife feeds all the other interesting and more rare birds so a scarer probably isnt going to be a good idea.
The only bird scarer I've seen is from when I was a kid, it wasnt silent, it filled up a chamber from a gas bottle then ignited it, bang, probabyl not want you want while your watching Tv though.
Motorola make cheap and powerfull tweeters, Ksn range I think, one of those coupled to a 555 would make a supersonic racket, not sure what frequency birds dont like though, for insects its 20 - 30khz.
If you build one put a photocell on so it shuts off at night, bats are getting endangered at least in this country.
 
Slightly off topic, but only slightly .. .. .. .

Whilst resident in Norfolk, we had a reasonably large pond along with the customary Heron raiding problem which I managed to solve by fixing some small wooden mousetraps to the top edge of an upturned metal bucket with some trip wires connected to the mousetrap triggers. If the Heron stood on a wire it was enough to make quite a noise.
However, we had a problem with carnivorous birds, like Owls and Sparrow Hawks not clearing away after dinner, leaving half eaten frogs and mice around the pond which the dogs would then bring in the house at which point my wife would freak out big time.
I found a cheap life sized model of a bird of prey at a Sunday Market and fixed it to the top of a wooden pagoda which was sited at one end of the pond following advice that this would deter other birds .. .. .. seem to work for a while, but then one afternoon I walked in the kitchen to find my wife prostrate with laughter and pointing out of the kitchen window.

When I looked there was another similar looking bird 'bonking' the life sized model for all it was worth !! :D

S
 
Hi,
[[[I found a cheap life sized model of a bird of prey at a Sunday Market and fixed it to the top of a wooden pagoda which was sited at one end of the pond following advice that this would deter other birds .. .. .. seem to work for a while, but then one afternoon I walked in the kitchen to find my wife prostrate with laughter and pointing out of the kitchen window.

When I looked there was another similar looking bird 'bonking' the life sized model for all it was worth !! :D]]]

I second the bird of prey on the roof idea. A couple of bonking vultures should do the trick;)
Camerart
 
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Still off track... I saw a magpie take a frog from my pond , fly to house roof opposite and peck out an organ , probably its liver ?... the poor frogs remains tumbled into the guttering ... question really is how to detect pigeons , you don't really want wires everywhere ...
 
hi 'Twitchers'
The PIR units I got from Amazon are able to detect pigeons at less than 3 to 4 metres range, when set to max sensitivity.

E
 
B***y pigeons pecked hell out of my young sprouts and purple broccoli , I need more than a scarer ... :banghead:
 
Am not in the shrimp farms business anymore, but fowl of all kinds feast on them; with the 'normal' shotgun as unsuccessful scaring tool. They can get used to it to the point of sitting on the barrel if you are not fully awake.
Not silent as requested...

If I had pigeons problem now, my mind is set :
Screenshot from 2017-05-17 13:49:19.png

I did not watch it, but you will get the idea. Make the 26th. Wish it could behead them, but a burn spot in the neck should suffice. (Sorry, cannot put the link alone as my compfuser is failing)

But do not expect a device to do all the work while you scratch your 'tonsills'. Consciousness, proper aiming and being responsible are mandatory. They will fly away, hopefully hurt with a pain in the neck to not return. A laser is not a toy, wear safety goggles !.

Please delete this post if improper or unsafe.
 
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Hi,
I second Eric's PIR, I've used them and they are sensitive. I switched a 12V water valve with one, which may work here. I just had a look at it, but it is sealed in Hot glue, so I can't tell you much about it.
I would imagine some sort of scarecrow activated by the PIR sound good.

I think if you are going to hurt the critters, an air rifle and a pidgeon pie recipe, are preferable to sending them off burnt.
C.
 
We have a Buzzard nesting very near to where the pigeons struck my sprouts , guess it don't like them either ...
 
I've heard of blow up dolls, but not for birds of prey!

I've wondered about putting up a plastic owl or some large bird to scare off the pigeons, maybe put a motion sensor and a vibration motor inside it to make it flap about and make noise, but as usual never got around to it.
 
PIR detector may work, but you don't want it going off for human presence , do you ?
 
Forget about unattended automatisms. Sweat a little to solve the task, won't harm you or risk anyone else.

A borrowed pressure washer does wonders to get rid of nests, and you have to clean the already messed areas anyway. Then, make their site unreachable with netting.

----> **broken link removed**
 
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