bird situation

Just joined! We are newbies with a new home with existing AG 18' pool. This spring has proven to be challenging trying to keep the pool clean. We opened it, no algae, just pollen from the terrible cover that eeekked through winter. The next day Grackles completely turned my pool into their toilet. We threw in 4 lg bottles of Clorox and 3 3" tabs into skimmer. The water immediately clouded. My husband put in clarifier as I vacuumed out the pool. we had a new cartridge too. After a day, the pool cleared, but the stinking birds keep dropping their poop into the pool!!! Any suggestions on how to stop them? Will I need to do more to keep pool sanitized for kids to go in?

Hi pool_mommy (great name!)
In Australia we have "Duckoff" a product that discomforts the birds by interfering with the surface tension of the water. They sink!
Pool shops should be able to supply a similar product.
talkingpigeon

Welcome to The Forum, both of you!!

P-mommy, what you want is a deterrent, I can think of 2. 1) a plastic owl 'perched' overlooking the pool or one of those 'crazy waving arms men' that you sometimes see to attract customers to a car dealership or restaurant. 2) If possible, string some fishing line (cris-crossed ~ 10' above and around the pool area - the 'sparkle' of the monofilament deters them).

As a last resort, a shotgun would solve the problem :evil:

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately these birds do not sit on the water, instead they fly over and drop the bombs on the ledge or in the water and fly away! I have left a ring inflatable in the pol to move around hoping it would scare them and not come near, but I think they just laugh at me as it hasn't worked. :(

I know these are "fly by"s ;)

The things I proffered were to deter them from flying over your pool.

I wish you a bird poop free pool! :)

Hmmm, I am becoming worried about the possibility of similar bombing operations that might be inflicted on our soon to be built pool.
I know that a hovering fake bird of prey has scared birds off our fruit trees, so the suggestion from Ted sounds like the go.

talkingpigeon

We had a similar situation. We have a row of aborvitae trees on one side of the pool. Last year a few birds made nests in the trees. When the eggs hatched the entire family would fly from the trees to the roof, dropping their bombs. Our pool and deck were covered. We have removed the nests this year, and continue to do so when the birds rebuild them. I am hoping that sooner or later they will get the hint. My sense is the nests may be near your pool or property as well and I recommend the same action. I like birds, but if it is a choice between a clean pool or them, I know which one I am choosing.

Many of the commercial pools in my area use the monofilament method that waste suggested. Give that a shot.

You may try breaking up the optics of the water surface to it doesn't look like a nice open poop dropping spot. Maybe some noodles or javex jugs on the top.

If you do some searches on Grackles, there is some info out there. We had them doing this for a couple of years, then a neighbour took out a couple of nests that were on his property and they relocated elsewhere since then.

http://www.massaudubon.org/printwildlife.php?id=15

"NEST SANITATION

Birds have different methods of keeping their nests clean. The young of some species defecate over the edge of the nest, the adults of other species eat the fecal sacs, or carry the sacs away from the nest and deposit them in vegetation or water. Grackles dispose of the fecal sacs of their young in water and to a grackle, someone's swimming pool may just be the closest body of water."

SITUATIONS AND SOLUTIONS

As stated previously, nest sanitation can take on different forms depending on the bird species. Common Grackles use their bills to pick up the fecal sacs eliminated by their young at the nest and dispose of the sacs at a nearby water source. That water source is often a backyard swimming pool.

"SOLUTIONS
When not in use, cover the pool with a lightweight cover that can be easily removed.

Be patient, this behavior will last only as long as the young are in the nest, about 2½ weeks.

Do not waste money on fake owls or snakes, or spray repellents - there is nothing that will prevent the birds from flying in the "air space" over the pool.

It is impossible to keep birds out of trees, but if the nest sites are known, thinning the trees in the fall, after the birds have left, may make them less attractive as nest sites the following spring."

I second Spensar's post. We have a bunch of Grackles that nest in our arborvitaes, and use our pool as a drop off point for their poop. I just scoop it out of the pool every morning, and hose off the patio. The good news, as Spensar says is that the behavior only lasts 2-3 weeks. Once the babies are gone so is the dive bombing poop. I'd rather live with this inconvenience than remove the bird nests.

Tom

An obvious question but it needs to be asked....do you have bird feeders in your yard? When I rented I had four or five feeders in our urban environment. We moved to a more suburban location three years ago and I put the feeders out in the spring. By the start of summer I decided to take them down because the birds were using the pool rails as resting and pooping spots. Took a couple of weeks but they no longer congregate so close and taking down the feeders solved the problem.

Sorry, I have found our neighbors know of this problem and don't bother opening their pool until Memorial Day as this is usually the time the Grackels have "flown the coop" so to speak! As soon as the weekend came, no more problems. Thanks all!