Alternatives to noises
Alternatives to noises
NOISE is not the only means of scaring birds; nor is it particularly desirable when crops needing protection are close to houses and other occupied buildings.
Strobe lights, mirrors, kites and scarecrows – of the traditional, inflatable or rotating type – are the favoured devices in such situations.
Martleys Pyrastrobe relies solely on strobe lights – three of them – which emit a bright flash of white light at timed intervals and in different sequences. The shiny galvanised steel pyramid on which the lights are mounted helps reinforce the flashing effect.
The Peaceful Pyramid uses mirrors to achieve much the same effect. Rotated by a small electric motor to catch the sun, the device comes in standard form with manual on-off – giving typically seven days operation on a 12v battery – or with a light sensor for up to 10 weeks duration.
The Phoenix Hawkeye, a wind-driven rotating scarer with the image of a kestrels face on one side and silhouette on the other, can also be had with mirrors to add another element to the defensive strategy without any power source.
Rotating scarecrows, from Phoenix and Michael Williams Engineering, aim to deter by movement – the Ben Gun design even has a rocking motion to give the impression of a shotgun being raised and lowered – while the bright orange Scarey Man Fall-Guy from Clarratts uses shock tactics by inflating rapidly at intervals.
Kites can be effective in some situations and, though relying on a little wind to stay in the air, the Dunford designs from Cochranes of Oxford come on tether poles which allows the kite to relaunch itself when the wind picks up after a lull.n
Flashing Hawkeye sequence shows a kestrel silhouette, a menacing visage and a flash of light.