We've all seen a sparrow flitting around the rafters of big hardware stores, maybe even in grocery stores. One small bird might not bother anyone, but as a store owner, you should worry - that little guy is one colossal liability.
That single bird may be nesting in the building somewhere, reproducing and multiplying your risk of a negative customer experience. Bird droppings present a significant slip-and-fall risk - cleanup in aisle four! and can damage your store or goods and even land on a customer! The droppings are also acidic, slowly deteriorating the material underneath and ruining its quality.
It is not only smelly, sticky, and unsightly; bird droppings also host innumerable diseases like salmonella and histoplasmosis. The birds themselves can have bed bugs, lice, mites, or fleas. All these ailments can spread to humans - and be traced back to your store. Not only can birds physically damage your store, but they'll also harm your reputation.
You can do a few small things to discourage birds from entering your store. It's an excellent reason to kindly ask customers to leave food and drink at the door since that may be what the birds are after. Keep your storefront clear of potential nesting materials, like twigs and hay. Also, don't leave your store's front door wide open, though it may be tempting to let a breeze blow through on warm weather days.
Before hiring a professional bird removal service to handle your bird problem, you can try a DIY trick that works well for warehouses and may apply to your store. You can try shutting off all lights save for the lights near a store exit. Ideally, if you leave a clear path, the bird will fly towards the door, using the light to find its way out.
If you've had birds in your store and are ready to say "never again," or if you're aiming never to run that risk in the first place, you can take several routes to deter or entirely exclude birds from your premises.
The best way to get a bird out of your store is never to let them enter in the first place. AviAway has two methods for bird exclusion, creating a physical barrier to bar birds from landing: bird netting and AviAngle.
If your store has high ceilings with rafters, like most large grocery stores, AviAway recommends applying bird netting to these indoor rafters and ledges. If a bird enters your store, it will have great difficulty landing in a secluded area where it can build a nest and eventually fly out to seek shelter elsewhere. Our netting is subtle and hardly noticeable by customers - and certainly less distracting than a wild bird flitting about indoors while they shop.
You should also prevent birds from nesting outside your store to discourage them from your property entirely. Bird netting can also be applied to small nooks and crannies, like if your store has large letters spelling out your shop's name that leaves space for a sparrow to nestle in. We also highly recommend AviAngle for ledges, especially in parking garages. AviAngle applies an angled surface to a flat one, so birds can't gain secure footing, slide right off, and are forced to land elsewhere.
Other methods are available to deter birds but are not guaranteed to bar them physically from entering. Sonic and ultrasonic sound units are popular, as are bird spikes and electric shock tracks. None of these methods hurt the birds, unlike chemical deterrents, which AviAway does not use. Please consult an expert on which method is best for you, as their efficacy depends on the species in question, the number of birds, and your building's structure.
A mass of birds roosting on your roof is a disaster waiting to happen, so check your roof if you don't see any birds directly outside but still hear their incessant chirping. A considerable mass of feathers, droppings, and nesting materials can even collapse a roof - don't say it won't happen to you! For this kind of problem, we recommend a grid wire installation, which is particularly effective when dealing with seagulls.
A bird control company like AviAway exists to prevent these exact problems from occurring. We facilitate bird removal, install prevention methods, and provide cleanup services for any mess a bird might leave behind. Call AviAway at 844-247-3373 or fill out our online form for a free consultation and quote. And tell your birds to shop elsewhere!