# Best Defense Against Bird Droppings...



## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

Twice a year, in the months of April and November, our community is invaded by starlings. Flocks numbering in their thousands roost in the mature trees that complete overshadow our property, and plaster our cars with their highly acidic, berry laden droppings. Due to the mature trees, our cars regularly get befouled by local birds, but this does not compare to the uniform coating of guano that the starlings leave behind. In my particular situation, this is the most dangerous form of fallout that I am up against. 

In the past, perpetual use of a car cover has been the only solution we have to protect our ungaraged cars from the environment in which they live, but I would like to move away from this due to the high degree of marring they are imparting in our paint. Every couple of months I am faced with a new batch of swirls, RIDS, DEEP scratches, and marring to deal with. To say the least, we are not amused! This cannot go on much longer before I don't have a safe amount of clear to play with anymore, so I want to try and find an alternative to car covers to protect our paint from hazardous environmental fallout.

For this reason I am considering looking to the thicker films, and greater chemical and weather resistant properties of nanotechnology based sealants to protect our vehicles in place of the car covers. I know that the sheer scale of avian fallout that they have to repel will degrade the coating far quicker than is normal, but I would rather polish out and replace a 40-60 dollar nano coating on a regular basis than a several thousand dollar paint job. However, I would like your input on whether even a nano coating would be up to the task at hand, and if so, what coating on the market would best suit my application? 

Should I:

(A) - Apply several layers of Wolf's Body Wrap, and renew every 6-months or so by stripping the degraded coating using Wolf's Shine & Seal with an appropriate pad (Along with whatever etching may have eaten into the BW.), and re-layering Body Wrap.

or

(B) - Apply a few coats of CarPro CQuartz (Or 'CQuartz Finest' if we ever get to learn more about it .), and expect to renew it periodically by stripping abrasively, and re-applying. 

or

(C) - Apply Opti-Coat 2.0, and expect to renew periodically by stripping abrasively and re-applying.

or 

(D) - Just use a car cover, and don't ever expect a perfect finish out of these vehicles. Simply try and hide the swirling and damage as best I can.

Based upon my research, I have organized my options in descending order of aesthetics, going from best to worst. I want a solution that will simply provide the best possible protection to the paint, preventing avian fallout from eating into the clear itself. As I stated above, I do not care if the nano coating gets periodically sacrificed in the process (That's what it's there for.); all I want is a solution that will save our paint long-term, from both avian fallout and over-polishing.

Thank you for your time and advice! I am looking forward to the discussion...

Sincerely,

Steampunk


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## herbiedacious (Sep 27, 2010)

The Body Wrap option seems a good one. Have you tried hanging a few dead starlings off the trees,that sometimes keeps them away?


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## ronwash (Mar 26, 2011)

All are very good options,
i think in your case opti-coat will be the best.


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## cangri (Feb 25, 2011)

Use scarecrow`s


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## Fish (Nov 16, 2011)

or shotguns. 

Fish


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## Exotica (Feb 27, 2006)

We use Hawks at work. The sky's are empty


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

Hahaha... We live within the city limits, and our neighbors are not of the understanding variety, so I'm afraid that the 'Godfather' technique is out of the question. I have used a noiseless air-rifle in the past, but practically speaking I cannot camp outside waiting for the birds every day, and with flocks this size I don't think they really even notice if I take out a couple of their number. We have hawks that live in our area, but the flocks of starlings are so huge that they aren't really afraid of predators! I'm afraid to say that starlings are one of the few British imports to this country that I do not enjoy ...

Keep the input on the nano-coatings coming, along with any potential reasoning you might have for picking one option over the others. I really appreciate all of your advice on the matter!

Steampunk


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

Clean Detail's ceramic protection actually insures against bird lime damage IIRC.
I realise however you're not going to get your car protected by a pro in Yorkshire, UK! They may be other similar solutions in the States obviously.


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

i would imagen all mentioned are up to the task but think maintenance is the key here


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

alan hanson said:


> i would imagen all mentioned are up to the task but think maintenance is the key here


Maintenance would be in the form of weekly washes with a compatible pH neutral shampoo. Body Wrap and CQuartz may get monthly top-ups with Wolf's Reparation Nano-QD and CarPro ReLoad respectively, but I'm still concerned about the amount of time that the paint/nano-coating will be exposed to bird droppings. In a week's time the cars will be completely plastered, and even after cleaning they won't stay clean for long during the 'starling invasions' every year. Even during the rest of the year, the cover still gets bombed 3-5 times a week, and I cannot guarantee that I will be able to remove them immediately.

This is a long span of time for the paintwork to be in contact with highly acidic bird droppings, and the best I can realistically expect is that I can pick a coating that has sufficient chemical resistance, and sufficient film build to keep them from eating through to the paint in less than 6, maybe 12 months. Even a fairly plain carnauba wax has the ability to resist them for a few hours, but what I'm looking for is a coating that can resist bird droppings that could be in contact with the paint for up to a week before being removed and neutralized. I do not have enough experience with the new nano coatings to know which one would meet this requirement, so that is why I am asking for the advice of those that have either personal experience, or scientific knowledge of the coatings in question that may influence my decision.

If my requirements are unrealistic, and a car cover is the only thing that will protect the paintwork, then I will just try and accept that these vehicles won't be perfect. Auto-Finesse Tripple3 managed to hide maybe 50-60% of the swirls that were created in the past 4-months, though it did nothing for the RIDS and deep scratches, so at least I can partly compensate for the damage that the cover is inflicting on the finish. However, as a detailer this is a painful compromise for me to accept. If Nanotechnology can effectively protect the finish whilst eliminating the need for a damaging cover, I believe that this is the option I would prefer...

Steampunk


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## sfstu (Aug 3, 2010)

how about one of those car covers with a framework inside it that folds over the car..? dunno whether they do them on your side o the pond but i know they do them for bikes over here...? dunno whether it would be cost effective for you but would save some time/work and laquer...
kinda like this...http://www.feelgooduk.net/39-motorbike-motorcycle-cover-bike-home-shelter-garage.html
or those plastic owls they use to keep birds away..maybe 20 of them in the trees above your cars...:thumb:
rgds stu


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

sfstu said:


> how about one of those car covers with a framework inside it that folds over the car..? dunno whether they do them on your side o the pond but i know they do them for bikes over here...? dunno whether it would be cost effective for you but would save some time/work and laquer...
> kinda like this...http://www.feelgooduk.net/39-motorbike-motorcycle-cover-bike-home-shelter-garage.html
> or those plastic owls they use to keep birds away..maybe 20 of them in the trees above your cars...:thumb:
> rgds stu


I haven't found anything like that would suit my application. The lady of the house is quite sensitive to these things, and out of the few 'Car Tents' I have found that are rated for the outdoors and are convenient enough for regular use, none have passed her cosmetic standards for something she wants to look out of the window and see. They were also quite expensive (Upwards of $1000... I think the best of the bunch cost $2700.), which is hard for even me to justify.

Knowing these birds, fake owls wouldn't scare them... They'd probably just crap on them, like they do everything. You have to remember, we have real red-tailed hawks that nest in our area (It's a strange sight to see one of them perched on your fence, glaring at you contemptuously.); these are HUGE birds with 4-5 foot wingspans, and a taste for anything cat sized and under. The starlings have absolutely no fear of them, entirely due to the fact that they fly in flocks that number in the tens of thousands. I would LOVE to find a way to deter the various vermin that regularly visit our property (Including the occasional door-to-door salesman .), but so far I have found nothing that works. I haven't tried using artificial birds of prey in the quantity you suggested, though it might possibly be worth a shot. One thing I've heard from people who do use them, however, is that the pests get used to them, and that they loose their effectiveness after a time. Unless I somehow figure out how to set up an automated GTS (Ground-To-Starling ) defense system, the cause of the fallout is here to stay, and all I can do is protect against it .

Steampunk


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## ronwash (Mar 26, 2011)

If you really want the birds to dissappear,try the ultrasonic products,thats work!.
i had a lot of cats in my back yard,ive bought a strong ultrasonic machine and the cats just gone.
thats working on birds too!.


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

How about a timber carport or garage look good , will cover your car 
And give you somewhere to work win all round


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## organisys (Jan 3, 2012)

Gtech C1 or a car port?


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

C1 or something of a similar nature. One that's been tested against Bird bombs for eg.


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## tg1 (May 18, 2011)

or climb up the tree and wax the branches, with luck they will fall off.

Or put loads of bird feeders in someone elses garden :lol:


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