Doves seeking to nest on a property can create significant problems, ranging from the accumulation of corrosive droppings to persistent noise and potential structural damage from nesting materials. Proactive intervention is the most effective strategy to maintain a clean and quiet environment. These approaches detail specific, humane methods to discourage doves from establishing a permanent presence on your property.
Why Doves Select Specific Nesting Sites
Doves are strongly drawn to locations that offer a combination of shelter, stability, and proximity to resources. They often choose horizontal surfaces that provide overhead protection from predators and weather, such as ledges, window sills, gutters, and the sheltered voids beneath eaves and balconies. These structural elements mimic the dense, protective foliage they seek in nature, often favoring areas with high side cover for concealment.
Mourning Doves tend to return to areas where they have successfully raised young, establishing a preference for that location. They are also attracted by readily available food sources, especially spilled seeds from bird feeders, and accessible water. Eliminating these food and water sources is a foundational step in making a property less appealing for nesting and roosting.
Physical Exclusion Techniques
Physical exclusion is often the most reliable, long-term solution because it completely blocks access to potential nesting spots. Installing bird spikes on narrow ledges, beams, and window sills prevents doves from comfortably landing or perching. These spikes are designed to be non-harmful, acting only as a deterrent by eliminating the stable surface required for roosting or nest construction.
For larger, open areas like balconies, eaves, or the undersides of decks, specialized bird netting or mesh is highly effective. The netting must be securely installed and held taut across the opening, ensuring there are no gaps where birds can squeeze through. Structural modifications can also be made by installing sloped sheet metal or angled boards over flat ledges, which eliminates the horizontal surface doves need to anchor their nests.
Sensory Deterrents and Repellents
When physical barriers are not feasible, non-physical methods can be employed to make the area undesirable. Visual deterrents, such as reflective tape or holographic ribbons, use light and movement to disorient and frighten the birds. For static decoys like plastic owls or hawks to maintain effectiveness, they must be moved frequently, as doves quickly recognize a stationary threat as harmless.
Auditory deterrents, including systems that emit distress calls or predator sounds, can make a large outdoor area feel threatening. For semi-enclosed spaces, ultrasonic devices emit high-frequency sound waves, which are irritating to doves but often silent to the human ear. Additionally, sticky gels and liquid repellents can be applied to surfaces to deter perching.
Bird repellent gels create a tacky surface that is uncomfortable on the birds’ feet, discouraging them from landing on ledges and beams. Liquid taste aversion products, which contain methyl anthranilate, irritate the dove’s trigeminal system, similar to pepper spray, without causing harm. These liquid repellents are often sprayed onto vegetation or food sources to make them unpalatable.
Legal and Humane Considerations for Removal
Any action to remove doves must be taken with respect for legal and ethical guidelines regarding wildlife. In the United States, Mourning Doves are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), which makes it illegal to disturb active nests, eggs, or young without a permit. Disturbing an active nest is a federal violation, even if the nest is in an inconvenient location.
It is permissible to remove a nest only after verifying that it is completely inactive, meaning no eggs or fledglings are present. Non-native species like the Eurasian Collared Dove are generally not protected under the MBTA, allowing for their nests to be removed at any time. Once a nest is confirmed inactive, all nesting materials and droppings should be thoroughly cleaned to remove territorial markings that could attract the birds back.