Why you need to control birds in retail environments
Everyone has seen birds inside stores. Whether you manage a big box or a smaller retail business, we’ve all dealt with feathered intruders. Even if they seem like they’re minding their own business, it’s imperative retail operators prevent birds from getting inside. If they do get in, it’s even more critical to remove them as quickly as possible. Read on to find out why.
How birds hurt your customers, inventory, and safety
They’re just birds, right—no harm, no fowl? While we all love songbirds and everyday birds like robins and sparrows, birds cause an alarming amount of damage in retail spaces. The list of problems we’ve seen birds cause is extensive. Birds will:
- Destroy inventory, especially food
- Damage store product and structures with unsanitary droppings
- Tear apart products, insulation, and other material for nest material
- Scare customers
- Create slip and fall hazards with droppings and scattered inventory
Worse, birds are a major food safety and health hazard. Common birds carry more than 60 parasites and pathogens, including salmonella, E. coli, and avian bird flu. If a bird lands on food products, you must throw them out. The very presence of a bird can cause your store to fail its health inspection.
How birds get into your interior spaces
Birds get into your store the same way people do—through doors! They may fly in accidentally or because they see a delicious food display in your store. (Many birds are sight feeders.) In colder months, they may fly inside on purpose looking for warmth and shelter. Birds also squeeze inside through vents or poorly sealed pipe or duct ingresses. A damaged soffit also provides easy access into roof spaces.
Once they’re inside, birds are hard to remove. They especially like the high ceilings of warehouse stores, malls, food courts, and large supermarkets. Even if they don’t get inside, birds can still cause problems—birds perching on your main entrance or signage inevitably soil them with droppings and nests.
Which birds most commonly get into stores?
The vast majority of birds we remove are sparrows, starlings, and pigeons. In some southern states, we frequently remove grackles, which are considered ‘nuisance birds’ and are often non-native to North America.
These birds are numerous, and are not federally protected—believe it or not, all migratory birds, which includes thousands of species are protected by federal law. That means unless you are licensed, you may not handle birds as common as mourning doves, blue jays, and swifts.
How do I prevent birds from getting inside?
Knowing bird behavior will help you stop them from getting inside your store. Birds are always on the lookout for easy meals, so you should:
- Move food displays away from doors. (Remember, birds are sight feeders.)
- Place exterior trash cans far away from entrances.
- Keep outside break areas clean.
You should also take measures to seal off birds’ main points of entry:
- Keep doors and windows closed.
- Fix dock plates and roll-up doors to seal gaps when trucks load and unload.
- Repair faulty doors, including automatic doors.
Get birds out, keep them out
Controlling birds in your retail store requires persistence and constant vigilance. While bird activity is highest in fall and winter, birds can get in any time of year. Some tips we advise for hardening your building against bird incursions:
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- Inspect your building regularly for openings where birds can get in.
- Train your employees to not lock automatic doors open or keep receiving doors open.
- Inspect interior spaces for nests and bird signs such as droppings.
- Remove nests as soon as you see them. If eggs are present, call an expert to determine if it can be moved.
- Assign a point person for birds. This person can act as liaison for bird removal services.
- Act immediately when a bird gets in. Chase the bird out or call your bird removal service.
- If an injured bird or bird of prey (such as a hawk or owl) gets inside your building, DO NOT HANDLE THE BIRD. Call your bird removal service immediately.
One last piece of advice: birds beget more birds. That doesn’t just mean birds have bird babies (although they do). It means if you leave a bird to roam free in your building, it will attract other birds. We have seen stores neglect birds, only to result in whole flocks taking over garden centers, resulting in scenes from a Hitchcock movie! Stay vigilant, follow the steps listed above, and win the battle of bird control in your store.