Every car owner knows the struggle. You park your car outside, leave for a couple hours, and come back only to find your hood covered in bird poop. Whether you’re visiting the park, going to a mall, or parking your car to go to work, it can often feel like these feathery fiends are waiting on the sidelines to rush in and ruin your mood. At that point, you’ll be wondering “how to stop birds from pooping on my car?”
The good news is that there are a number of surprisingly easy ways to prevent that from happening. Just follow the steps listed below to keep your car out of harm’s way.
How to Prevent Birds From Pooping on Your Car
Obviously, while you can’t control the birds or tell them stop, there are other ways that can help. While some of the methods are easy, others can be more challenging. How much effort you want to put in is up to you. Regardless, if you’re tired of birds leaving their droppings on your vehicle, it certainly won’t hurt to try some of these out.
Avoid Parking Under Trees
We agree that parking under trees can seem attractive, since it helps your car avoid overheating in direct sun. However, trees are ideal for birds to sit on, making it more likely that they’ll leave their droppings on the hood of your car. Parking away from trees or branches has proven to reduce bird waste on your vehicle.
You should also avoid areas where birds may hang around. These areas can include lamp posts, telephone wires, dumpsters, and the edges of buildings.
Park Your Car in a Garage
Parking your vehicle in a garage is almost guaranteed to work, as indoor spaces are typically inaccessible to birds. Similarly, you can also park your car in other sheltered areas, which are not easily accessible from the outside and don’t have roosting areas for birds.
Depending on where you are, it may not be easy for you to get garage access. If you have the means and space to take advantage of a garage, make sure to use it.
Put on a Car Cover
Car covers are a great way to stop birds from pooping on your car. While technically they can still poop on your car, the cover will intercept a majority of their droppings. There are tons of good and affordable car covers available in the market, so make sure you get one you like at a good price.
Keep in mind that getting a durable cover will be better in the long run. Try to find a cover that is made out of either nylon or vinyl and that has a UV protective coating. This method will take more time than usual but it will ensure that your car is just as clean as when you left it.
Also, when choosing a car cover, we suggest going for any other color than red. It is proven that birds love to poop on cars that are red in color. Ideally, a black cover should do the trick, although you can also get other colors as well.
While we are on the subject, it is also essential that you cover your side mirrors, protecting them from exposure. You can either buy covers specifically for your side mirrors or tuck them under the regular car cover itself.
Remove Bird Baths
If you are facing this problem when your car is parked at home, you might want to consider removing any bird feeders, birdhouses, or bird baths on your property. While it’s great to care for your feathered friends, this amenity may be contributing to your problem.
Since bird baths attract birds throughout the day, the chances are increased that one will poop on your car. If you’re against removing your bird baths, we suggest trying to keep them as far away as possible from where you usually park your vehicle.
This is a perfect compromise, and will ensure the birds are taken care of, while also keeping them an arm’s length away from your vehicle.
Do Not Park Under Poles
One of the most common hang-out places for birds is on top of telephones, light posts, or light poles. They regularly sit on electrical wires, waiting for cars to come by, just so they can ruin the owner’s day. If possible, we highly advise against parking under wires of any kind.
Taking a little extra time to find a better parking spot may save you the trouble of scraping off bird droppings. If you see electrical wires overhead, you can bet that there will be birds perched along them.
Place CDs on Your Car
Yes, we agree that this method is taking it too far, but if nothing else works, might as well try this. The logic behind it relies on the fact that most birds are afraid of shiny surfaces, which they try to avoid at all costs. Use this to your advantage and place a few old CDs on top of your car.
At the same time, you can also use aluminum foil to get similar results. Plus, aluminum foil can be bought for reasonable prices and is readily available.
Put a Rubber Snake on Your Car
This is another method that can be considered a bit on the extreme side, but is more commonly used than you might think. If you’ve tried all the other approaches without success, then deploying a rubber snake on top of your car or on the hood may be a great last ditch effort, and could prove effective.
Since snakes prey on birds, it will scare away the birds in the area. They will refuse to fly near your car, let alone poop on it. However, once you are ready to move your vehicle, make sure to remove the rubber snake, or else you may end up scaring a few people and losing your snake.
Funnily enough, the occasional bird or two might swoop in and snatch the snake from your car, depending on the species of bird.
Place an Owl
Similar to our last option, you can also place an owl on top of your car to scare away birds. Surprisingly, you should be able to purchase plastic owls from a local home goods store. Plus, it doesn’t necessarily have to be an owl. You can also get a fox or a small coyote and place them on the hood, trunk, or roof of the vehicle.
Since birds dread these animals, they should make it so that the birds avoid your car completely and fly elsewhere.
Use Motion-Activated Sprinklers
Finally, you can use motion-activated sprinklers that you can get from any home improvement store or Walmart. Place the sprinklers strategically on your lawn so that they turn on whenever a pesky bird or rodent tries to approach your vehicle.
This will significantly reduce the risk of your car getting dirty. However, make sure that you adjust the sensitivity of the sprinkler, otherwise it may go off at even the slightest of movements. The last thing you want is to have the sprinkler go off on your neighbor.
Try Using Pinwheels
Putting pinwheels on your vehicle should also yield positive results. The sound that they make while spinning will scare away the birds from near your car, plus their reflective surface works similarly to CDs by scaring off incoming birds.
You can attach the pinwheel under the wiper blades of your car. Pinwheels can come in various sizes, so you should be able to find one that suits your needs perfectly. This paired with another visual deterrent will surely keep those pesky birds away.
Can Bird Poop Damage Your Car?
While bird poop mostly just dampens your mood and takes time to clean up, there is more to it. Surprisingly, bird poop can do considerable damage. Since bird poop is made out of uric acid, it will start to eat up the paint of your car as a consequence of its high pH levels. Uric acid also has a terrible and unpleasant odor that can be hard to remove.
If the bird poop lingers too long, the smell can attract insects or even rodents, apart from causing permanent damage. Having a car that looks filthy is also never a good thing.
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Why Do Birds Excrete on Cars?
While birds poop everywhere, they more often poop on cars than on other common objects. This is because, according to one study, birds are likely to be attracted to red-colored cars. On top of that, due to their fight or flight response, loud noises such as engines or horns might scare them and cause them to poop on your vehicle.
How to Clean Bird Poop?
Using soapy water, vinegar, car wipes, baking soda, and WD-40 are the most effective ways to clean bird poop. However, there’s more to it than just knowing what tools to use. You’ll want to learn the best ways and strategies for using these ingredients to rid your car of bird poop.
Now that a bird has ruined your car, you might be wondering what is the most effective way to clean it up. Here are some of the best ways you can clean your car after a bird has pooped on it.
Soapy Water
Instead of just using regular water to clean your car, we suggest using soapy water. Soapy water and a high-powered hose are a traditional and effective combination to get almost any kind of debris off your vehicle. However, keep in mind that if the droppings have been there for a while, they can take longer to remove.
In fact, there are also brushes available that are meant for this explicit purpose. Even a normal cleaning brush should help do the trick with hard to get residues.
Vinegar and Water
You may not have access to soap. In that case, using vinegar mixed with water will deliver the same results. Since the mixture is acidic, it will easily remove any droppings from your car. Spray the mixture on the area that you want to clean, and let it set for a few minutes.
After some time has passed, clean the bird poop using a moist cloth.
Car Wipes
Using car wipes is a great alternative if you aren’t able to use the previous methods. These wipes work perfectly on painted or unpainted surfaces, and you can purchase car wipes from most hardware stores.
There are even some car wipes that are made specifically for this purpose, and that will more effectively target and dissolve the acrid poop.
WD-40
WD-40 is a great way to remove bird poop from your car. You can get it from most hardware stores or any store that deals in cars. All you have to do is to spray the affected area and let it rest for about 10 minutes. After that, the residues should come off easily.
Since this product breaks down the uric acid, it makes it easier to remove droppings. Plus, it helps to reduce the smell.
Baking Soda
Baking soda will soften it and make the bird poop easier to remove. Mix the baking soda with a small amount of water and apply it to the bird droppings. After some time. you should be able to wipe them off with ease. Using a brush or sponge will give you better results.
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Conclusion
Hopefully, this article answered the question, “how to stop birds from pooping on my car?” It may take some trial and error, but going through the methods on this list should provide you with results and a poop-free car. However, if the problem persists, it may be best to reach out to a professional to discuss your options. This is very unlikely, as these methods are tested and proven to work.
If one of these methods works for you, it may be worth it for you to share your successful strategy with your friends and family. It can help someone save a lot of time and potentially stop their day from being ruined.
Also, feel free to check out our other articles, such as how to get car oil out of clothes.
