How To Keep Birds Off Your Porch (If You Actually Want To)

As much fun as it is to draw birds to your yard, bird feeders, and bird bath, sometimes there are places you’d rather the birds not congregate. For some, that means keeping birds off their porch. While wild birds are always protected by the Wild Bird Conservation Act under state and federal laws, there are steps you can take to keep birds away from your house if that is the goal.

Birds can be kept off the porch away from furniture and plants by using bird deterrent methods that include physical, auditory, and visual deterrents. 

Keeping birds away after spending time trying to get them to enjoy your yard may seem contradictory, but there are some birds that can cause havoc when they are around.

What Birds To Keep Away And Why

According to the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, sparrows, starlings, bluebirds, swallows, ravens, pigeons, and sometimes even crows can become “nuisance birds” for humans. 

“They’ll get into roofs, attics, window shutters, walls, ceilings, porches, vents, ducts, chimneys, decks, and crawl spaces, and some birds will annihilate your budding garden if you’re not careful,” the Alliance writes on their website. “Birds also can be vectors for spreading diseases such as psittacosis, salmonellosis, avian tuberculosis, avian influenza (bird flu), giardiasis, cryptococcis, histoplasmosis, and cryptosporidiosis. When birds enter a building or structure, they contaminate it with waste and bird mites.” 

How To Keep Birds Off Your Porch Without Harming Them

Chirp Nature Center, a wild bird supplier, suggests bird spikes, wind chimes, and a motion activated strobe light.

Bird Spikes

“Bird spikes are devices with small, needle-like rods that protrude from the base,” their website states, adding that the rods are dull and cause no harm to the birds, but deter them from perching or building nests. “You can place bird spikes on railings, ledges, under eaves, and anywhere that’s a likely nesting spot.”

Wind Chimes

“The movement and sound of wind chimes, especially if they’re made from metal or other shiny materials, will act to deter a bird from a potential nesting spot,” Chirp states. “However, birds are smart, adaptable creatures, and may get used to them, so these aren’t always long-term solution for deterring nesters.”

Motion Activated Light

“Flashes of bright light will deter nesting birds from an area. Both the light and shadows created will keep a bird at bay, and is an excellent, bird-friendly way to keep them away,” the Chirp website states.

Other methods to keep birds off the porch include decoys and predators.

Decoys

Have you ever seen those fake plastic owls? Those aren’t a decor choice–those homeowners are trying to scare away nuisance birds. When used correctly, these decoys can scare away pesky birds who are trying to roost on your porch.

Predators

Most birds fear predators, so keeping your dog or cat outside on the porch is a simple–and effective–way to keep the birds away.

How To Prevent Birds From Returning To Your Porch

Whether you want to avoid birds nesting or defecating and creating a mess, the most effective way to prevent them from returning to your porch is to create an unwelcoming environment.

Move The Bird Bath or Bird Feeder

This may seem obvious, but if your bird bath or bird feeder is close to the porch, your home is a good landing spot for birds to enjoy. If possible, consider moving bird attractions to alternate places in the yard.

Trim Trees And Bushes

Birds need places to perch, so if trees or bushes are overgrown around your porch, it’s likely that birds view your home as a safe perching space. Keep trees and bushes trimmed.

Enclose The Porch

While this may seem extreme, enclosing your porch is a fail-proof way to keep birds out of it.