Some type of bird, I suspect a mockingbird, has taken up residence somewhere near my bedroom window. The bird enjoys singing, quite loudly, at about 2:30 a.m. The reason I suspect a mockingbird is that they are plentiful in this area and it sounds remarkably similar to those car alarms that have alternating warnings.
I hate that bird.
Squirt them with the hose. Works for squirrels too. My grandma used to use string to tie those cheap aluminum pie plates strategically throughout the garden to keep birds away.
I saw that coming, and I’m surprised it took that long for someone to post an excerpt. Thanks, Baker.
A bird just flew into my window and bounced off it. Then two minutes later it did it again. Heh heh. Which reminds me - The Birds are gone! They left some time ago, and have not returned*.
*crossing fingers
Seriously, is it illegal to try to eradicate (read: kill) urban pest birds, i.e., non-native species such as pigeons, starlings and English sparrows? Those things breed until they can completely displace native species. I thought they were fair game.
Well, bird brain is an insult for a reason.
A story from my college days.
Iowa State has, or at least had, a bazillion crows living on campus and occasionally one would come across a whole section of sidewalk that was white for about 4 or 5 feet. Yuck. Well, one day while I was walking to class I hear what sound like heavy rain splatting right behind me. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I ran and didn’t look back.
** pugluvr ** , it is legal to kill these birds. As far as I know all states have a clause that permits the killing of these invasive birds. Songbirds don’t hang out in huge flocks and crap on things - when was the last time you saw 500 Goldfinches sitting on power lines? Those are most always Starlings. And the English Sparrows? Don’t get me started. They are the biggest threat that our native cavity-nesting songbirds face. Oh, how I hate them.
Anyway, I try to keep their population down, at least in my little slice of the world. I have a Chinese pellet rifle that works great, and I’ve got these nifty little traps that go inside a birdhouse, so when the sparrow goes in, it trips a trigger that snaps the door shut. I’ve just received a big wire-cage trap that you’re supposed to bait with a live English Sparrow and some food, and the theory is that others will join and become trapped. The hope is to get many at a time.
So there you go. I guess whether or not you decide to whack them is up to your individual situation, but it is legal.
neuroman, you and the other bird haters suck. I think it’s really sad when people value their clean shiny car or any other expensive material object over the lives of beautiful innocent animals. Get the fuck over it. If you can’t appreciate the nature that congreagtes in your yard, then cut the tree down and get rid of all other vegitation such as grass, flowers and shrubs. That should take care of your nature problem. Until you do that, then stop complaining!
P.S. Please explain why you think grackles and starlings are worthless.
OK OK OK, so maybe doomraisin kind of answered my question about starlings. I know they are an invasive species and are a nuisance. This is true. I just got annoyed at the materialistic attitude over the cleanliness of your stupid car. If you hate it that much, get a carport or cut the tree down!
Unfortunately, my Woodpecker is back. This time he’s brought a friend. Both (maybe three) are taking turns pounding on my house.
Last year a Supersoaker did pretty well in chasing him off - of course it may have been coincidence… Unfortunately for me, the little bugger has got Federal protection against me bumping him off.
We had a Starling problem when I lived in Ky. Loud noises would chase them off for a while but they’d usually return.
Belrix: You ought to do like Tim Taylor on Home Improvement and buy a remote-control toy helicopter and fly it at Woody & Co. to chase them off.
And although I love birds, I’m very bothered by the alien species displacing our native birds, so I haven’t much sympathy for them. We used to live in a house that had a huge palm tree in the back yard. The palm tree acted as a magnet for hundreds of noisy, messy starlings which nested in the fronds. No one was happier than me when a pair of lovely sparrow hawks started nesting nearby and declared open season on the starling colony. It was a beautiful sight to see the aerial chases over the backyard which pitted hawk vs. starling, and usually ended in starling on the menu for Mr. and Mrs. Hawk and their hawklets.
And don’t get me started on those motherf***ing pigeons which nest in the niches of our roof and bump and flap in the middle of the night.
I swear I just came across this whilst searching for another thread.
It might let you experience the subject from another point of view. 
It’s not ALL birds I hate, but there are a few in particular that make me want to dig out the ol’ BB gun:
The crow who discovered that our skylight was PERFECT for cracking nuts – at 5:00 a.m. EVERY morning. WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!
The mockingbird that lives by the deck at my husband’s office (which is the only place with cell phone reception, it being a data center built like a blockhouse) that has learned EVERY SINGLE cell phone ring so no one knows if it’s a real call or not any more. Or the mockingbird that has learned an entire car alarm sequence and treats us to it once a week or so.
The idiot cardinal who last year spent the whole summer flying repeatedly – I mean for hours at a stretch – BANG! (pause) BANG! (pause) BANG! etc. – into our glass laundry room door, defending his territory, i.e. our yard, from that Evil Bird of Doom he saw reflected therein while he trilled endlessly for a mate; this year, he’s doing the SAME DAMNED THING now that he’s defending the stupid female he found to hang out with from that Evil Bird of Doom that is STILL lurking right there in the laundry room door, for some strange reason.
And best/worst of all, the STUPID bird that hangs out in a tree RIGHT outside my bedroom window and screeches LOUDLY, for NO apparent reason, JUST as I’m trying to get to sleep. Every 30 seconds or so. I’ve sent my husband on several middle-of-the-night search-and-destroy missions. If I ever get my hands on that miserable feathered idiot…