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Blackbird carrying droppings in beak then leaving in/on pool. Any way to stop it? (1 Viewer)

N

n2hawaii

Member
Hi,
I'm new here and am not sure where to go for answers, but I have children and am concerned about the healthiness of this. I have a very "utilized" garden and yard by various types of birds and I love their visits!

However, I have identified a bird as a Brewer's Blackbird (from pictures and using binoculars). This bird flies into my yard carrying what appears to be droppings in its mouth, then either drops it from its beak into my pool, or lands next to my pool and drops it on the cement (where my children walk).

Why is this bird doing this? And is there any way to stop it? The only answer I've gotten from asking where I live is to get a pellet gun. I don't want to hurt the bird. I just want to know:

1) If it is, indeed, bird droppings that it is leaving and if so, why? (ie, is there anything in my yard that makes it feel like it needs to 'mark it's territory' that I can remove so it won't feel compelled to continue this behavior, etc).

2) How can I stop or discourage this type of behavior? Does anybody know how long it lasts or if I am going to have to deal with this all summer long?

I've found bird repellents, both chemical, adible, and visual. I can't afford the audible one I saw. I don't want to use chemicals (unless I am forced to), and I am afraid to put up any of the visuals because I don't want to scare the other birds away. I have noticed less birds in my yard though since this started (2 days ago). Can anybody help or point me in the right direction?

Thanks much.
 
Hi n2hawaii and welcome to Bird Forum from all the Staff and Moderators

I'm sorry I can't help you with your problem but I'm sure there will be someone along soon with some ideas for you

D
 
Thank you, I sure hope so. I really don't want to hurt the bird. It may be a "Grackle" also. I just found a web site that says: "Grackles are blackbirds with iridescent plumage. They may place whitish sacs of droppings evenly spaced on hard surfaces, such as driveways and near water areas". It doesn't tell why they do it though, or how to stop it other than the "Scary Eyes" prop -- which I am afraid to purchase and put up because I don't want to scare off other birds too, and a propane powered exploder which I think is maybe for crops, but definitely not my back yard lol.
 
Hi there and a warm welcome to you :t:

I think what you are seeing is the remains of afterbirth. The parents usually take it away from the hatching site so as not to draw any predators to the nest. I promise you it won't last forever.
 
Hi KCFoggin,
Don't birds only have a babies a year? I guess I can't say it is the exact same bird doing this, but man, there are tons of them over the course of the past couple days!

If this is what it is, do you know why they would choose my yard to do it in? Both neighbors to the right and left of me and the neighbor behind me all have pools. Grh :eek:/

Thank you for that info, I'm going to go look it up and see if I can find out more!
 
I suspect that your bird is carrying and leaving faecal sacs. These are a special type of dropping produced by fledglings in the nest which are carried away by the parents to ensure the nest stays clean. All perching birds do this, and I guess that is what your quote refers to. It will only go on until the fledglings have left the nest. The time to fledge varies from species to species but is of the order of two weeks. (Googling shows that the different grackle species seem to be in the range 10-14 days) So the problem should go away, for a year at least, very soon, I hope.

All the best,
Graham
 
Yay! Graham, I think you are right. I just ran across this and was coming back to post it when I saw your post. It is from a bird rescue site, specific to taking care of baby blackbirds: "It is most crucial that you choose the correct diet for the species of bird your looking after. If you're not sure, check in a good bird book. If the correct food is not available you must decide on a suitable substitute based on what you know is right. Feed this to them and watch the droppings. They must be firm, usually black or brown with a white urine portion, all contained in a disposable sac."

Guess I'm the lucky lottery winner for the year! eGad.

This is good to know. Do you know if blackbirds have babies all at the same time? Meaning... if two weeks pass, there won't be another family that has just hatched and more droppings to come?
 
n2hawaii said:
This is good to know. Do you know if blackbirds have babies all at the same time? Meaning... if two weeks pass, there won't be another family that has just hatched and more droppings to come?
Click to expand...

Now that I can't promise you. I don't know about this family of birds as we don't have them in Europe (What we call blackbirds are actually thrushes) Generally, birds of the same species nest at close to the same time but they are not precisely synchronised. If you had several pairs it is possible that could extend the period to a month or more, I guess. But are you sure that several birds are involved? Could it not be the one pair - remember they could have five or more hungry mouths to feed and consequently a lot of busy bottoms to deal with. That's the good news.

One possible negative occurred to me is that some species do raise more than one brood a year. I just don't know whether that's true of your birds - we'd need to definitely identify the species and then I'm sure plenty of US birders could advise on whether this is a possibility - and they could confirm whether the birds are territorial (and therefore likely one pair are responsible for all the mess) or colonial (which might mean more than one pair have taken to polluting the patio and also perhaps some overlap in breeding times lengthening the problem period) Any chance of a photo of the culprits so a US birder can give better advice than me?

Graham
 
I wouldn't be able to get a photo in enough detail, but I can describe it from what I've seen through the binoculars and in my yard. They are black. I've seen more than one in the yard, but I don't know if it is the same one doing the dropping. One I saw on a roof was black, but a lighter shade, almost grayish brownish, but only on the wings. The beak is definitely black (not orange or yellow). They definitely have iridescent plumage. But I do think it is the Brewer's Blackbird because I read on Wikipedia that the distinguishing characteristic is the iridescent purple head. On some of them, they are all iridescent. On the one I saw with the brownish colored feathers, the body was brownish, but the head was iridescent, except it was, to me, more of a greenish and purplish tint to it (when the sun shines on it). I can't say it's more than one family. I can definitely see how the mess I have now is from 5 little ones. If it is only a couple of weeks, then I think I can probably tolerate that and just spray the patio everyday, followed by maybe some bleach or something to disinfect it. If it's longer than that, I will have to consider looking into a longer-term solution and try the "scary eyes". If that doesn't work, then I reckon I will "suck it up and drive on". I don't see myself killing or having someone kill a bunch of black birds simply because they are taking care of their young and their nest. That's just wrong. Ah the trials of a pool owner lol :eek:p

Again, thanks to all ;o)
 
Hi n2hawaii, I'm glad you are taking the positive attitude that you are.
I know it seems gross and all but you are witnessing an act of nature in the middle of a man-made environment.

Scary eyes are fine! Let the grackles find a different place to drop the sacs. As soon as the fledging season is over, you can remove the eyes and the other birds will come back.

I'm very glad you discounted pellet guns!!!
 
I remember reading somewhere that toy ( but fairly realistic) snakes, placed on the ground, would deter birds. If you have a natural snake population, this might work as a temporary measure! I expect you would have to move them around each day, though! Be interesting to know if it did work.
 
Did a quick bit of reading on http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/, an excellent free resource. Checking the distribution and seeing you are in Kansas, Common Grackle does seem more likely, but whichever species of the family it is the problem should be short-term as I said. Fledging for the grackle is slightly longer than Brewer's Blackbird (16-20 days rather than 13-14), a typical brood for both grackle and blackbird is 5, and both species have a 2nd brood only "occasionally", so hopefully the problem will not return until next year and the eyes or the snake will work if it does.

All the best,
Graham
 
n2hawaii said:
Hi,
I'm new here and am not sure where to go for answers, but I have children and am concerned about the healthiness of this. I have a very "utilized" garden and yard by various types of birds and I love their visits!

However, I have identified a bird as a Brewer's Blackbird (from pictures and using binoculars). This bird flies into my yard carrying what appears to be droppings in its mouth, then either drops it from its beak into my pool, or lands next to my pool and drops it on the cement (where my children walk).

Why is this bird doing this? And is there any way to stop it? The only answer I've gotten from asking where I live is to get a pellet gun. I don't want to hurt the bird. I just want to know:

1) If it is, indeed, bird droppings that it is leaving and if so, why? (ie, is there anything in my yard that makes it feel like it needs to 'mark it's territory' that I can remove so it won't feel compelled to continue this behavior, etc).

2) How can I stop or discourage this type of behavior? Does anybody know how long it lasts or if I am going to have to deal with this all summer long?

I've found bird repellents, both chemical, adible, and visual. I can't afford the audible one I saw. I don't want to use chemicals (unless I am forced to), and I am afraid to put up any of the visuals because I don't want to scare the other birds away. I have noticed less birds in my yard though since this started (2 days ago). Can anybody help or point me in the right direction?

Thanks much.
Click to expand...

I had the exact same problem - droppings by, or in my pool!!! I looked at the Scary Eye balloon, but don't have time for that. I drew the eye image and printed it - not one bird all day. I really can't believe it.

I made a pdf of the scary eye and posted it on my site:
http://www.artainia.com/bird.shtml
 
Bird droppings in and around my pool

I have the same problem every year. But this year it is completely out of control. I have a lot of cedar trees around my back yard and now about 5-6 black birds nest in those trees. After exmining what they do, i found out that they carry the droppings from their nest to the pools and also this year i found 3 dead baby birds in my pool as well. It looks like anything that they don't want in the nest weather it is droppings or dead babies, they carry them in their mouth and they drop them in or around my pool.

Picture this 5 nests with each 3-4 babies they drop around 100 pieces a day..:C

I have printer this Scary Eye picture and will give it a try tonigh. I'll let you know if it works. If not i'm afraid i will have to destroy some of these nests because my pool is unsuable..

thanks
jj
 
jjmtl said:
If not i'm afraid i will have to destroy some of these nests because my pool is unsuable..

thanks
jj
Click to expand...
I was hoping no-one would say this. I think it is illegal to destroy active nests... so can't you find another way of putting them off nesting in the future rather than destroying the nests? And couldn't you give the eggs to a rescue centre or something for them to look after, please dont kill them!
 
Okay, it did eventually stop in about 2-3 weeks. However, it has started again lol. I think it must be another blackbird family. That is okay. We hae quite a few blackbirds in tall trees around here. There's really nothing I can do. I purchased a stationary owl, no dice. Tried mylar, no dice. So I'm going to try something that I believe in. I'll just send all the birds the energy of love and gratitude, with the thought and desire that they put their droppings somewhere else :)
 
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