Birds are starting to see the light — on downtown Cincinnati buildings and fields all over the country. This is an update to a 2017 story after Reddit readers started asking questions recently.
The answer is Fifth-Third Bank is using lasers to chase birds off of its Downtown buildings.
Farmers are taking a new look at lasers as a way of scaring away birds who are eating their crops.
The laser bird deterrent technology, like the one from Bird Control Group, takes advantage of a birds natural instincts. According to CEO Steinar Henskes, “Weve developed a laser beam which birds perceive as a physical danger. So by moving it toward them they get scared and move away. They perceive it like a stick or like a car which approaches them.”
Oregon blueberry and cherry grower Justin Meduriis leasing six of the lasers. Before he started using them, he said he was losing about 20% of his crop. The lasers are mounted on a pole and project down on the area. They run off solar panels and recycled batteries.
“And theyre on a variable frequency with an erratic pattern that comes on multiple times a day set up specifically at the times you would like them to come on and off,” he says.
Bird Control Group says it has 6,000 customers in 76 countries in a variety of industries, including agriculture, aviation, oil and gas, recreation and real estate.
The company has safety controls. If a laser strays out of the predetermined pattern potentially affecting a motorist, the system will shut down. It also doesnt fire any lasers skywards because that could interfere with air traffic.
The town first tried threatening the birds with trained falcons and hawks in an attempt to scare them away, but this didn’t work. There has also been some success with reflectors intended to confuse the flocks. Thus, Sunnyvale turned to a $20 item that can be purchased at any office last month: a laser pointer. For three weeks starting in late January, a city employee with training used a handheld green laser that she bought on Amazon every weeknight. The employee would shine the laser pointer into the plaza treeline, where crows are starting to settle in for the evening, for thirty minutes at dusk. The idea was to frighten them every night until they finally dispersed permanently.
So far, Sunnyvale is seeing success. “It appears that the laser pointer is functioning,” remarks Garnett. But given their intelligence, we know the crows will probably return once the deterrent is removed. Sunnyvale stopped the pilot program the week of February 14 and hasn’t stated if it will pick back up if the birds come back.
According to Kevin McGowan, a crow expert and instructor at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, green lasers produce “flashing movements” that are not typical of crow behavior. “Lasers are not magical; rather, their small size and long range of effect make them effective tools.” Additionally, lasers aren’t a one-and-done fix, according to McGowan, who notes that the strategy isn’t infallible and functions best when combined with other hazing techniques.
Timing can be important for success, experts say. According to John Griffin, senior director of urban wildlife programs at the Humane Society of the United States, lasers work best early in the winter, within a few days of the crows’ establishment. Crows are sentient beings, and according to Griffin, the longer they stay, the more difficult it is to drive them away. The birds will migrate away by spring, but many of them stay in the same city blocks year after year, only increasing in number.
Even if cities like Sunnyvale manage to temporarily drive out downtown roosts, the crows will likely return unless they can find another suitable habitat. For this reason, Matthew Dodder, executive director of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, thinks that the best solution in Sunnyvale is to learn to live with the birds. “From my point of view, it seems like not much can be done to change the situation,” he says. “So we should adapt to accept it, and appreciate it, and work around it.” Dodder offers up ideas like covering dining areas and being better about trash management to help mitigate the impacts of the birds around the plaza.
The laser bird deterrent technology, like the one from Bird Control Group, takes advantage of a birds natural instincts. According to CEO Steinar Henskes, “Weve developed a laser beam which birds perceive as a physical danger. So by moving it toward them they get scared and move away. They perceive it like a stick or like a car which approaches them.”
Fifth-Third Bank is employing lasers to drive birds away from its Downtown buildings, and that’s the answer.
Farmers are examining lasers more closely as a means of deterring birds from devouring their crops.
The company has safety controls. In the event that a laser deviates from the pre-established pattern and could potentially harm a driver, the system will shut down. Additionally, it avoids firing any lasers upwards to avoid interfering with air traffic.
Birds are starting to see the light — on downtown Cincinnati buildings and fields all over the country. This is an update to a 2017 story after Reddit readers started asking questions recently.
FAQ
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