To want this bird to leave my car wing mirrors alone and stop shitting on my car

[BitOutOfPractice]

Posting here for traffic!

This is the second year this has happened. A small bird (a finch type thing I think) will not leave my car alone.

He flies at at the wing mirrors, pecking at his reflection. This would not be a problem (even with the mess he makes with his beak of my mirror...do birds have spit?) except that he shits all over my car door. The picture shows what he (I assume it's a he!) has done from dawn to 7am today as I cleared it off last night.

I have tried windmills to scare it off, I've tried covering the mirror (apparently by this stage it's learned behaviour and he's not actually interested in his reflection), I've tried pictures of hawks etc.

Does anyone have any ideas of what I can try without spending a fortune on electronic devices which seem to get terrible reviews anyway and don't seem to work.

Obviously bird shit is bad for the paintwork but I'm sick of cleaning to off 5 or 6 times a day. Short of keeping 24-hour vigil, what can I do to stop the chuffing chaffinch?

Damn - forgot the pic!

2 x drawstring bags over the wingmirrors every evening?

My DM had a robin they called Percy who did this. It's a territory thing. They're attacking the stranger in their territory.

push your wing mirrors in?

Google 'Birds and wing mirrors'
Seems to be a really common n problem!

ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/901/t/37380.aspx

Pushing the wing mirrors has no effect. He just goes between the window and the mirror.

Covering has no effect. It's learned behaviour - he does it even if he can't see his reflection

I've just got back from the school run and I can see him on my neighbour's much more pristine than mine car too. That is going to g down like a cup of cold sick with him

Wizard the birds are cute. Their shit, not so much

Thanks for the links Insp. I reailse it's common (though it only started here last year for some reason!)

Nobody has come up with a solution though

I have the same with both a Robin and Wagtails, they 'fight' the intruder into their territory, i.e. your wing mirrors leaving an awful mess.

Mr/Mrs Wagtail also likes to sit on my aerial on the top of the car surveying the area for intruders, more mess.

Only thing you can do is bag your mirrors, I tried pushing them in but they could still see a reflection and then began attacking the side window. Or a full car cover which really is not practical for everyday use.

Those spike things wouldn't work because he doesn't atually land. He sort of just flutters in front of the mirror. pecking at it

Only thing you can do is bag your mirrors

I've tried that. Doesn't work. he's doing it out of habit now I think

I'm hoping he's decided to swap to neighbour's car now

Could you try a sponge over the mirror before putting a bag over? A thick car washing one. It might stop damage to the glass?

What about getting one of those car cover things that goes over the whole car, a horrible faff but it might mean they go and pick on someone else's car.

I'm doubtful about the spiky things as well, wouldn't the bird just land of the door.

*land on the door, not of the door.

The good news is that this is likely to be seasonal behaviour, and it should stop in a few weeks!

I would put a bag over the mirror, and pack out any space with some bubble wrap, or anything else you have going spare.

It might also be worth putting out some food in the back garden - I know it sounds counterintuitive, but perhaps if there's more food available, the territorial pressure will decrease.

I put pictures of cats up on the fence and in the car windows. Stopped it initially. Then , I bought one of these owl models with swivelling head. You can get those in garden centres or online. It worked for a little while too.
I also used tights to cover wing mirrors but they still saw the enemy in the window glass.
Nightmare!
They would rather fight the reflection than a real bird. ( we had chaffinches )

Maybe, instead of pictures of hawks, just get a live hawk and ask it nicely to sit on the bonnet of your car. Bet that would see the little bugger off.

I'll have a chat with the local birds of prey. It would be easy pickings for them because the little buggers don't seem scared and will stay on the mirror till I get quite close. The other day he was on the wing mirror before I'd even taken the keyout of the ignition as I pulled on the drive.

The problem with all these elaborate pack it out with bubble wrap etc ideas is that I've potentially got to do that 8 times s day (2 x school runs, 2 x station runs with DP, once to the gym, once to a meeting, once to the supermarket / other errand etc) and it's a right PITA!

I've looked at the swivel head owl things but they are like £30 and a bit naff - I just want the little shitter to bugger off!

*pigmcpigface8 funny you should say that it's a lot later in the year this year. I wonder if the hard winter has affected them. I hope that his fancy will turn to love very soon

I don't know if this will work but one of the elderly ladies I visit in work was being plagued by pigeons, they were setting up home on her balcony (high rise flat). The amount of pigeon shit was AWFUL . She bought a big owl garden ornament and stuck it on the balcony rail. It saw the pigeons off immediately. Maybe you could try that?

I've tried the RSPB bird silhouette things. They didn't work

Seems like the actual bird model thing might be the only thing I haven't tried

I'd be reluctant to spend £30 on a swivel headed owl thing as it sounds like this bird is not going to give up easily.

He/she will probably try their luck for a bit with the owl and when the stupid owl just sits there looking stupid your bird will decide it's no threat and just carry on wrecking your car.

It's a lot of money to pay for a potentially useless swivel headed owl.

"The problem with all these elaborate pack it out with bubble wrap etc ideas is that I've potentially got to do that 8 times s day (2 x school runs, 2 x station runs with DP, once to the gym, once to a meeting, once to the supermarket / other errand etc) and it's a right PITA!"

Totally see that! It might just be quicker to wipe down the side of the car once a day!

It's a really late spring - things are behind thanks to all that orrible snow and frost we had. Definitely still seeing territorial bird behaviour in my garden too.

My workplace has a problem with seagulls. They installed large model owls in an attempt to put off the seabirds.

The seagulls think the model owls make very nice perches :)