gnasher16 31,310 Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Due to the fact that 2 sides of my aviary are solid walls i decided to have those clear corrugated sheets as a roof for to let more light in.......earlier i saw a Sparrowhawk trotting about on the roof and im wondering now if a clear roof wasnt such a good idea......its all secure enough and wired underneath.......but nonetheless i would imagine the birds were absolutely petrified ! I dont think my running up swearing and shouting at it intimidated it too much .... so id expect it back.......any of you aviary folk had the same or similar problems ? Would you put a solid roof on....or not ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Don't know if it will make much difference now it knows they're there Gnash, but it might hide them from others. Years ago my grandad had one flying at the bars of his aviary, fortunately it flew straight into his greenhouse and done itself a mischief when he went to scare it away.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 11,362 Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 I've had the bloody things take the head off of a goldie mule out in a aviary and kill a siskin sat on a nest and a young greenie both in cages,i have one buzz my aviaires every week and it don't sit still so not a lot i can do really.Some folk put out owl decoys on the aviary roofs and there ment to work quite well,as for the roof i know there'll be a bit freaked out but they will be able to see the spar and give them some cover to dive into and they should be ok.A solid roof might encourage the hawk to hang on the sides and that might be a bit more stressfull for them but i do know someone who has fishing wire put up about 6" out from his avaries in 3 rows after a spar attack and he watched it get caught up the following day and it has never been back,a solid roof also makes a aviary dark.A pain in the arse they are Gnasher and just one of those things we have to put up with due to the legalities of harming them,bit like cats really . 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gnipper 6,759 Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Could you give it a thin coat of white paint to still let light in but stop the flying stoat seeing the birds? It will still come at the wire though surely? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the_stig 6,614 Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 (edited) once they`ve come gnash its hard to keep them away -- likes been said they`d hang on the wire anyway ---just put more cover in --one of the lads got 6ft of conifer tied to the roof joists hanging sideways down into the aveiry ready for winter ----he`s got an owl decoy on a pole a few feet away .... when I had the pigeons to used to knock 6 inch nails in and run orange bail string across the roof --- to make it hard for birds to land on it and to keep cats off ... Edited October 23, 2013 by the_stig 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Outlaw Pete 2,224 Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 " Flying Stoat " F**king cracker! I must tell my boss that one! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hot Meat 3,109 Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Catch the fooker and have a little chat with it, explaining he no longer welcome at yours.. I was plagued with them at 1 point Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gnasher16 31,310 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Thankyou chaps.....im going to give these owl decoys with the rotating head a go first.....i presume this is good as any ??.......See how that go,s.....cheers http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OWL-DECOY-WITH-ROTATING-HEAD-LARGE-REALISTIC-GARDEN-PEST-SCARER-NEW-/261303579941?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item3cd6e83525#ht_1152wt_1255 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 11,362 Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 Looks like it'll do the job,the only draw back i can really see with one of those is that crows and other corvids might come into to mob it a bit(but don't really know about corvid behaviour)but then they'd mob the sparrowhawk as well so it'll work one way or another really,let us know how you get on though . 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tong po 129 Posted October 24, 2013 Report Share Posted October 24, 2013 try to get hold of some polycarb roof sheets like on conservatrys it wont keep the bird off but its a lot stronger than the corrugated stuff 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dogger 100 Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 old cds hung round about your aviary will deter them, try putting a pole up at the corners with string to each and the cds dangling in the wind they dont seem to like that, the boys on my local shoot do the same hanging them from trees round about the pheasant pens to deter buzzards its worth a try 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pappabear 128 Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 i have double netted all my aviary panels so i have a 3/4" gap in between the outside and inside mesh , worked so far Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gnasher16 31,310 Posted October 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 try to get hold of some polycarb roof sheets like on conservatrys it wont keep the bird off but its a lot stronger than the corrugated stuff Im not so sure i dont think they,ll get through it......the stuff i used was the thicker 1.3 mill stuff recommended to me by a roofer fella off here....... it seems solid and sturdy enough......mind you these 80mph winds over the next few days are going to be a tester .......If your reading this Mr Roofer,any lost birds and im coming after you 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
socks 32,253 Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 The only problem with owl decoys is they attract magpies like a tramp to chips ........ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 11,362 Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Yeah but it's legal to pop those off while watching to see if the sparrowhawk is put off by it,"two birds one stone" as they say 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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