The most common Google search results that start with: “how to remove bird” are related to how to clean bird poop off their cars, and this is no coincidence.
We Americans love our cars and when we see several nasty bird feces stains, slowly etching their way through the layers of clearcoat paint on our new car… well, let’s just say we’re not happy!
Generally, it’s best to get the stain wet with a garden hose before removing bird poop. A well designed cleaning solution or simple dish soap can aid to loosen the bird poops creating a concrete surface on your vehicle.
When water and paper towel, a scrub brush, chemical cleaners, and warm water isn’t cutting it, it’s time to look at removing the issue at the source.
Getting Rid of Bird Droppings
Pest Friends has been the bird abatement professionals since 2004, and if there was a recorded the reason why every customer calls for service, it would be safe to say that more than 85% of them had to do with the bird’s pooping behavior.
Whether it’s on a car, down a window of their house, the floor of the front entrance or the air conditioning system, to name a few…
This overwhelming statistic led me to coin the phrase “#2 is #1,” because their #2 is the #1 reason people call bird abatement professionals like me to help resolve their pest bird challenges.
Biggest Culprit of Bird Poop Stains
Of all the pest birds, the pigeon is by far the winner and probably the animal kingdom’s pound-for-pound biggest pooper of all time. Allow me to explain.
A typical pigeon that weighs one pound, can “drop” 25 pounds of poop every year. Easy math, 25:1 ratio. Now, let’s assume the average North American weighs 180 pounds while pooping one pound per day, for a total of 365 pounds per year and a ratio that is closer to 2:1. Using the pigeon 25:1 ratio, each person would have to poop 4,500 pounds per year, making plumbers the most lucrative career in America!
Aside from the now established sheer volume of poop produced by pigeons, other pest birds aren’t too far behind, especially when they flock in large numbers.
The reality is that all bird poop is destructive for two main reasons: they can be loaded with zoonotic diseases, and they can be caustic.
Zoonotic Diseases
Zoonotic diseases can be passed between animals and people. Bird can carry over 60 known transmittable diseases (viruses, bacteria, and fungi), they can host ectoparasites (mites, fleas, bugs) and their nests can harbor several kinds of insect pests that can infest structures.
The risk for cross-contamination is also a serious health risk when the birds may be nesting near the entrance of hospitals or food establishments for example. Every person visiting or working there can track the droppings into sensitive areas when they walk through the front entrance.
Bird droppings are caustic
Because powered flight uses a lot of energy and birds have evolved many biological attributes to make then as light as possible. Some examples of these attributes are hollow bones, beaks instead of teeth, laying eggs instead of carrying their young, and combined organs like the cloaca.
The cloaca is of particular interest when it comes to the causticity (acid content) of their droppings. Birds combine their need to pee, poo and even copulate out of one organ, their cloaca.
Due to their weight limitations, birds cannot drink enough water to process uric acid into urine like we do. Their “urine” is highly acidic and is expelled together with their “solid” waste as a paste that is commonly known as a “dropping.”
These droppings, if left to sit on a surface will damage the surface. They etch themselves into any surface, even stainless steel if left long enough.
This leads to a lot of frustration from people who need to constantly clean these droppings without solving the real problem of the pest birds that are causing them.
How to Remove Bird Poop Stains
So, back to the original question. How to remove bird poop stains from a car? There are several layers to this onion:
First
Try to resolve the cause of the bird droppings on the car by either moving the car to a location where the car does not get pooped on, or removing the bird(s) that are causing the poop in the first place.
Removing the birds may not be as easy as it seems, so consider calling a bird abatement professional.
Second
Place a cover on your car that needs to be removed and replaced every time you drive it. Oh, and let’s not forget that it would need to be cleaned every time it gets removed.
Third
Cleaning bird droppings will need to be done every day. As bird droppings dry, they can become etched into the surface of the car paint.
Fourth
Go back to Google and complete the search. There are several sites that provide ideas using baking soda, seltzer or waxing compounds to break down dried bird poop. Just know that if it’s etched past the clear coat, you may have to take your car to a professional.
Treat the Cause
I think you know where this is going… Let’s treat the cause instead of the effect.
Solving a pest bird challenge is not as easy as it may seem; birds are smart, persistent, and mobile. You might get lucky with the fake owl, reflective ribbon, or noise maker, but chances are they will learn and adapt within a few days.
There are several resources available for finding a bird abatement professional in your area, my favorite is www.nwcoa.com, the website for the National Wildlife Control Operator’s Association. They can direct you to a trained and qualified bird abatement professional member in your area.
Please also feel free to contact me if you think Symterra’s Bird Abatement Solution might be the right solution for your situation.
Rolie Calzadilla
Symterra – VP of Sales
