DEAR JOAN: I am at my wits’ end. I have a wooden potting table that I put on my covered deck in the winter months. It has individual succulents on the small shelf.
I have been doing that for years, but this winter, birds are pooping all over the table and plants.
I bought a big, scary owl with big yellow eyes, but the dirty birds land on the owl’s head and poop there and all over the plants. I have covered the whole table with bright pink plastic, but they still make a mess. I have put bright blue tape on the window behind the table, but they are not scared of anything.I clean up after them every day. Yuck! Do you have a remedy? After the rain, I will move the potting table back to the patio but what about now?
Gail Fitzgerald, Clayton
DEAR GAIL: Well, you know how the song goes. “Fish got to swim and birds got to poop.” Or something along those lines.
The best way to keep them from singing that song all over your potting table is to discourage them from coming into your yard. So, if you’ve got bird feeders up, take them down, and empty birdbaths and fountains.
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You also can remove shrubs and prune back trees that are near the patio, removing potential perching, nesting and hiding spots. Be especially careful when pruning, however. You might already have birds and squirrels nesting in those areas and you don’t want to destroy their nests and eggs, or in the case of the squirrels, harm newborns. And no, it’s not too early to find young squirrels in nests. Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek already has a few baby squirrels that were knocked from their nests by pruners.
Forget the plastic owls and colorful covers. Movement is the key to keeping birds away. Hang some streamers or shiny balloons on and around the patio. They will float, bob and flutter in the wind, and the birds won’t know what to make of them so they’ll keep their distance.
DEAR JOAN: We have barn swallows that build a nest on our front porch every year. Should we tear down the nest once they fly the coop? Or just leave it up so they can use it again this year? Not sure what’s best for the birds.
Paul Mangini, Bay Area
DEAR PAUL: There usually is no need to take down the nests. The swallows spend a lot of time and effort to construct those adobe abodes and they often reuse them for several years.
If you like having the birds there, then leave the nest. They might still return and build a new home, but keeping the nest there is a good way to improve the odds of them coming back.
The swallows will remove old grass and feathers that were used to line the nest, and bring in new material along with fresh mud to patch the old place up. If you notice a nest that goes empty, then after the mating season, you can remove it.
Many years ago, the swallows nested in caves, but as humans moved in and built up, the birds began using human-made structures, most notably barns, which is how we gave them their name. There is some evidence that the swallows like nesting close to humans because we keep other birds, such as crows, from preying on them.
