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in which the Wisconsin Metro Audubon Society participates.

BACKYARD BIRD PROBLEMS

Do you have a “problem bird” in your life?  Any bird, a cardinal, chickadee, robin, or dove, can become a problem when it does something unpleasant.  What’s unpleasant depends on what the bird is doing, and how you react.

Birds come to your yard to eat and bathe, to roost and nest.  Birds can cause trouble when they eat your cherries, drill holes in your trees and fish for koi in your pond.  They can be hazardous to your health when they roost by the hundreds in the trees at the edge of your patio.  They can be a nuisance when they nest in your hanging baskets, on the ledge over your front door or in your clothes drier vents or continuously “tap” at your window.

The first step in solving your problem is to identify the bird and what’s attracting it.  Your goal is to remove what attracts the bird, or build a barrier between the bird and what it finds so attractive.  Most bird problems do not have a simple solution and what works in one situation may not work in another or may work for only a short time.  The secret to solving bird problems is to use several tactics and to vary them so birds don’t become complacent.