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Mite your have this problem?  |  Those Pesky Gulls   |  The Feral Pigeon. Friend or Foe?   |   DOWNLOAD |
Auckland Airport Novotel gets ‘Hot Wire’ Treatment

'Mite' you have this problem?

We are all familiar with the problem of birds on buildings — particularly pigeons and gulls, but few tenants anticipate infestations of bird mites!

A building in Manukau had its exterior partially netted to stop pigeons from nesting. Unfortunately the net that the contractor used failed through u/v degradation and the workmanship was well below par. The problem was exacerbated by workers carrying out other servicing jobs, not closing zips on the netting when on the exterior balconies. Result — ACE Birdproofing were called in to 'fix the problem'.

We tidied up the original job and made it pigeon proof, and happened to get talking to one of tenants — Guy Francis of Merial Ancare — who said that on more than one occasion, their offices on their third floor had been infested with bird mites, this included desks, carpets and inside phones. At that time the areas containing two air-conditioning units outside the offices, were not protected by bird net.

"We had these crawly insects slowly making their way in — we could see them on the window sill, on our desks, phones and plants," said Guy.

So the question was — how had the bird mites been getting in — despite the fact that none of the building's windows open? Answer — through the air-conditioning duct services into the office areas immediately inside."The pigeons enjoyed the exterior walkway around three sides of the building and the air conditioning units obviously aided their desire to nest there at night," added Guy.

"It is very rare that a tenant has positively identified that bird mites are a problem, but in this case, the company had veterinarians on staff who were able to identify the little critters!" said Allan Riley, ACE director.

"Given that guano and nesting materials from pigeons, gulls and other birds can lead to the spread of viral and fungal infections, as well as insects such as bird mites, urgent action was required. So pest control was called to rid the offices of the infestation. Then we set about enclosing the air-conditioning units where they lived, pigeon proofing with Ace BirdNet to stop any further infiltration," he added. "So often in these cases, it is the women staff members who, because of their clothing choices, get bitten around the head and shoulders from bird mites dropping through ducted ventilation inlets and down-lights or opening windows.

"It's an example of why architects and builders should look closely at the installation and sealing methods for external doors and windows and HEVAC systems, and ensure that all possible entry points are sealed," said Allan.

"Ace BirdNet is the solution for enclosing areas whether outside buildings or in roof canopies, for bird exclusion. It is made from knotted polyethylene twine — we don't use inferior monofilament or woven nets. We pride ourselves on the way the job looks after installation, while providing solutions to defacement of buildings by nuisance birds, their contamination and several resultant health and safety issues."

Those Pesky Gulls

Nearing building completion of Kaitaia's new PAK' N SAVE supermarket, it became obvious that gulls were likely to be an ongoing problem for the new owners. They were already all over the site, most likely attracted by food scraps from contractors and the wind shelter provided on the new roof.

The call was made — how to keep them out of the gutters and from standing on the edges — doing what gulls and pigeons do very well.

Preventing them marking the sides of buildings with their white diarrhoeal streaks is a problem which is normally easy to overcome. However, deterring them at the same time from getting inside the wide gutters, while also stopping them perching on the gutter edges was more challenging.

Ace Birdproofing were approached by the client's architects for solutions to this problem. From the resulting discussions and checking construction details, options were very limited. Our Bird Wire system would protect the edges of the gutters, but not the inside. Avipoint Bird Spikes were capable of doing both but — how to fix them?

Starting with initial concept details through to the final solution, the architect designed an additional bracket system to fit inside the gutters to provide fixing for the Avipoint. The brackets supported the lengths of aluminium angle. Using stainless steel screws, the Avipoint could then be screwed onto the angle as a continuous protecting barrier of 'P.32' bird spikes.

In this way, gulls were prevented from easily accessing drinking water inside the gutters and from defacing the sides of the building when presenting their derrières towards the car parks and supermarket customers!

The Avipoint was supplied by Ace to Paton Roofing, the roofing contractors for this project. For more information on this product, view Avipoint Bird Spikes product details page.

The Feral Pigeon. Friend or Foe?

Birds can be an emotive subject. The feral pigeon is sometimes actively encouraged, thriving in our towns and cities. However, they can cause significant damage to human health, buildings and the images of businesses, so they should be perceived as a general hazard that warrant pest control measures.

As vectors of disease, virulent strains of salmonella affect the majority of pigeons. Ornithosis is a potentially fatal disease passed to humans through the inhalation of dust from bird droppings, feathers or nesting materials. Other serious respiratory diseases can also be contracted by humans.

Birds also damage buildings. Fouling on buildings or city monuments is often met with hilarity — but it's a serious matter. The acidic content of pigeon droppings can damage masonry and paintwork. Roofs and ceilings have been known to collapse under the sheer weight of fouling.

Gutters and down pipes can also become blocked as a result of fouling, leading to ingress of water and secondary damage such as wet and dry rot. Secondary infestations of insects and arthropods which live on, or nearby the birds, such as fleas, mites, beetles, moths and flies, also attract the need for control.

Feral pigeons can also be quite a public hazard. Slipping on wet fouling, particularly on pavements beneath bridges and on stairway, can and does cause serious injuries, which could in turn result in expensive law suits.

Furthermore, businesses particularly in the food chain manufacturing industry, are affected by the fouling of foodstuffs by birds. This can amount to major financial losses due to damage to stock or through prosecution under food safety laws. If the cost of feral pigeons in our urban environment was known, the public sympathy they often evoke would perhaps not be as strong.

ACE Birdproofing installs a world-renowned range of bird management products to protect buildings from pigeons, gulls and small bird species.

Auckland Airport Novotel gets ‘Hot Wire’ Treatment

Ace 'Hot Wire Flexi-Tape' was the system selected by the project architects to deter birds from perching inside the lower exterior wall cladding of this new Novotel at Auckland International Airport.

The Hot Wire system had many advantages. One was its low visibility, coupled with extreme efficiency in deterring birds from perching on surfaces where the Flexi-Tape was laid.

After resolving how best to make the wiring connections to connect through the columns, the Flexi-tape was fitted in double rows on both the main entry side and opposite side of the building.

It is hard to understate the deterrent effect of the Hot Wire system! At the Novotel it was tested on completion and recorded 8000v at the furthermost point from the energiser.

The pulsating electrical charge is sent through the system every 1.5 seconds. For anyone unfortunate enough to accidently access it, the effect is similar to a very heavy jolt from a car battery.

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