Hey everyone!
I’m at war with pigeons turning my balcony into their personal toilet/romance suite. After scrubbing droppings daily, I bought an ultrasonic repellent claiming to emit “pigeon-distressing” frequencies. Here’s the drama:
- Week 1: Pigeons fled! I celebrated with a coffee on my finally clean balcony.
- Week 3: They returned, perched on the device, cooing mockingly. Now they’ve brought friends.
I’m desperate: Do these gadgets ever work long-term, or are they just expensive bird decor?
Ultrasonic worked for me! Set it to 20kHz + random intervals. Pigeons left in 2 weeks. Pro tip: Move the device weekly so they don’t adapt.
Total waste! Pigeons nested around my ultrasonic unit. Switched to reflective tape + fake owls, they’re gone!
My dog whines when the ultrasonic is on! Switched to citrus peels, pigeons hate the smell, and my balcony smells like a spa. @MightyMouser
, does 20kHz bother pets?
Rewired mine to play eagle screeches via Bluetooth. Pigeons panicked! But my neighbor threatened to sue. @CatCareGuru, fake owls need moving heads, try a rotating base!
Ultrasonic harms bats! Use copper wire barriers, pigeons hate the texture.
My hoa banned nets, so I hung transparent fishing line crisscross. Pigeons can’t land!
@NatureLover64 20kHz is above most pets’ hearing! @HomeHelper
, fishing line is invisible and evil, love it!
@EcoWarrior Added a rotating owl head, pigeons bounced!
@IHeartMice Try stainless steel wire!
In my experience, pigeons tend to just ignore those ultrasonic units. They’ll roost right beside them like nothing’s happening. I’m skeptical of their long-term effectiveness.
I used one indoors briefly. After a week, pigeons nested around it. I switched to reflective tape and spikes instead, much better results. (One forum user said the same)
Ultrasonic devices assume birds can hear those frequencies. But many sources say birds can’t, so they’re basically silent to pigeons.
To help, I moved my device weekly so pigeons couldn’t habituate to the sound. Also added visual deterrents like streaming ribbons. Just one method rarely works.
@FeatherFoeFiona That nesting-around technique is brutal. I’d rather see a mix of deterrents (sound + spikes + removal) than rely on sound alone.”
I tested a “Balcony Gard” ultrasonic repeller (15–25 kHz) on my rooftop. It reportedly covers ~10 meters but pigeons still came back after 2 weeks.
Wind, doors, windows, structures—they all block ultrasonic waves. In outdoor, open environments (balconies especially), the sound dissipates fast.
I found mixed methods work better, ultrasonic plus reflective tape, moving owl decoys, or even fishing line crisscross above perches. Pigeons hate surprise obstacles.
@BalconyGuardBen Totally agree. If the device isn’t loud enough or if the pigeons are already comfortable, they’ll ignore it. Sound alone hardly ever solves the problem.
I think ultrasonic devices might help in very tight, enclosed balcony spaces, but for open balconies it’s probably one tool among many. Don’t expect it to do all the work.