New weathervane - Scare off the birds? (1 Viewer)

[brutay]

This is my first post so please bear with me if I hose it up. We are currently building a new house in the country and hope to attract twice the number of wildlife as we do already in the city. One of the features of the new house is a really huge copper and bronze eagle weathervane that will sit on one of the roof points on the front of the house. My question might seem silly but I was wondering if this thing might shoo away the birds as I hope to have a bunch of feeders placed close to the house to view through the front windows. It's looks kinda like the eagle on the old silver dollars with the spread wings but he's perched on a copper ball that doesn't make him very threatening (I attached a picture and hopefully it worked). Then again, I really don't have a clue if it would scare the birds or not. Any ideas or comments?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading!

 

[T0ny]

Hi, Brutay, welcome to the group. We're a friendly lot, so ask any questions you wish. Nice pic of your new weathervane - pretty impressive. My personal feeling is that it is unlikely to affect the birds overmuch once they get used to it, which with the feeders you provide shouldn't take too long. After all, they get used to things like TV aerials, satellite dishes, and farm equipment. I doubt if they'll even realise it's a sculpture of an eagle. Please post your findings when they do visit, as we'd all like to know how it turns out.

Tony

 

[Steve]

YESSSS it will DEFINATELY scare Birds away, and Its an awful looking thing, far to Gaudy to have lying around your place. However I think I could find a home for it! please ship it to LAX And Ill pick it up3 3

 

[IanF]

Great weather vane, but personally I think it may affect the birds visitng your yard. It's like a gigantic scarecrow. From my experience, birds are very wary of anything remotely raptor looking.

With time they will get used to he idea that it never moves, but in the short term thinks may be a bit quiet around the feeders for a couple of weeks.

 

[Funky]

Most birds, especially small ones are extremely wary of 'hawk' or 'falcon' shapes but usually respond to the shapes movement, ie actively hunting. A false eagle? They are not usually a threat to birds in general except perhaps at nesting time. The birds will soon become accustomed to it! They will see that its false and ignore it. It would have to look very realistic indeed to fool a birds eyesight.

The electricity board here in England put a large plastic owl on top of a pylon as an experiment to stop starlings from pooing on the pylon and thereby corroding it. Within a week they were sitting on it! 3

Try sticking it in your garden for a week or two with a couple of feeders on it and see if the birds use the feeders. If they do you've cracked it!! :t:

 

[Colin]

Welcome to the forum Brutay.

The Eagle looks an impressive piece of work and it would be a shame to not use it for what it was intended. I am not sure if it would scare the birds but you could put it up and try it out as the others have suggested. Give it a few days or a week or so and then inspect it to see if there are any bird dropping on it. If there are they probably come from bird perching on it. This and continuing prescence on the feeders and then you can say that it is not affecting them.

If not a bird is seen, sell it to me for a fiver and it will keep the cats off my garden...lol



Colin

 

[dylan]

Welcome Brutay, you never know it might attract some eagles?

 

[Chicaddd]

I can tell you this brutay, I do not think that a weather vane will bother them since birds/animals seem to get used to things like that. As far as I know a weather vane does not move very much. I have a birdhouse apartment that has a whirlygig(?) mounted just beneath it. I used to watch the birds fly from the houses [or from elsewhere in the yard] to the whirlygig. It would turn in the wind as the birds just sat on it. The wings even spun and the birds would sometimes be sitting on the wings.

This is only one species in my yard. It does not pertain to all but I think that your vane will be okay. Just be patient for the birds to become used to it.

 

[Gaye Horn]

That weather vane is most impressive and IF Steve cannot pick it up please just ship to Vancouver International and I will Pick it up!!!
As you must have gathered the birds will be wary at first as they can be even with a new feeder.. but trust me.. they will poop on this magnificent thing with ease and it will scare them NOT.. WE have a huge rubber owl to dissuade birds from going in our gazebo.. we do like to sit out there on a hot day and do not want goodies all over the table... funny thing we always have a nest of robins right beside it and during rain storms we can count the birds hiding out with the big owl... so worry not.. it will look excellent and may I say I agree with the comments that photos will be nice for us once this is up and functional as your newest perch!!!
Welcome to the best Bird forum around..this planet anyway!!!:t: