Looking for ideas to deal with a bird problem

So, it being spring and all, we're overrun with tweety birds.  For whatever reason, this year they've decided the thing to do is perch on the side mirrors of my vehicles and crap all over the mirrors and down the side of the doors.  This is the first year I've had this problem, and we've been in our house for 12 years.  It's thoroughly annoying, as it makes a mess, and I'm worried it will permanently damage the paint if I'm not cleaning it up every day.

Plastic owls and hawks never seem to work (at least not for very long), and covering everything isn't a realistic solution for me.

So, short of blasting them all to hell with a shotgun, has anyone successfully dealt with a similar problem?  

Get some outdoor cats for the property?

Carbide Cannon? Your neighbors would love you.

Motion sensor sprinklers?

Rodan said:

So, short of blasting them all to hell with a shotgun, has anyone successfully dealt with a similar problem?  

Blasting their food source to hell with a shotgun will probably require less ammo...Although the neighbor that owns the (most likely) recently installed bird feeder probably won't be very happy with you at that point either.

In reply to java230 :

These are available commercially, and they work. 

I've never had luck with anything but a Remington 870 express for problem birds.  This approach is highly dependent on your population density and HOA.  

Otherwise, bird poop happens.  Keep it waxed.

In reply to Floating Doc :

Exactly, also works with cats, dogs etc :D

I've been thinking about putting out a bowl of dry rice and alka seltzer in hopes the old wives tales are true.

This is the first year I've really had problems with the robins, but they're on all the cars and all through the shop and it's really an issue.

They don't care about gun fire, and I don't want to shoot at the cars anyway, maybe a motion sprinkler would be a good investment. 

I've thought about anti bird strips on the vehicles, but that's trashy even to me.

I almost always park in my garage.  The truck is the only vehicle without a space, and it's not pretty enough for birds to poop on. 

What species of bird are we talking about?

Birds roost in a certain spot for a reason, the neighbors feeder is most likely the cause of your problem.  Watch them for a while and see if your mirror represents the perfect spot to 1) conveniently land, eat a seed, then fly back to the food repeatedly or 2) is centrally located between food, water and shelter or 3) provides a vantage point to something or 4) offers shade, protection, etc.  

If you can figure out WHY they like your spot, you can make it less desirable or provide a spot that is even more desirable. Birds generally land on things that are along their path of travel. If they have to cut down your driveway to get from feeder to the woods, your mirror might be a good stopping spot.  Walk around, think like a bird, plant something higher for them. 

I have seen people put bird spikes on a strip of Velcro, seemed to work. I would just go full Mad Max, that's just me.

In reply to pinchvalve :

My next door neighbor has several cypress trees along our shared property line, and the birds nest in the trees.  My parking area is along that property line, so there's ~ 1-2 feet between the truck and the trees.  There are no feeders in the immediate area.  I think they're just looking for a spot close to the cypress trees to be sociable with their buddies, because if I have a second vehicle parked one spot over, they don't seem to bother it.  

My short term solution has been thick painter's plastic closed in the top of the door, and draped over the mirror, but I'm worried about the wind snapping the bottom against the paint.

Hundred Dollar 177 pellet rifle. 

I hung feeders at the opposite end of the yard from the driveway and that seemed to help quite a bit.

Do the side view mirrors fold in? That would be annoying but might not be as attractive for perching on. 

In reply to EastCoastMojo :

Yup, tried that... it just ensures that the poop goes down the door as well as the mirror... 

I once had a bird that visited my truck's mirror every day.  I observed said offending bird. It seemed like it was attracted to the bird in the reflection.  Not sure if it was courting it, or trying to battle it.   I figured a piece of cardboard to block the reflection would have done it.  I never tried it though, I just cleaned the poop periodically.

I had one that did the same thing.  I think it was courting the bird in the mirror.  It had an accident and no other birds seem to care.

Start by parking in a different spot and see if that changes the perching behavior. You need to figure out if they're attracted to the vehicle or the location. Depending on what they are they may be a transient species that's only around for a few weeks and the problem will resolve itself. If they're taking up residence, though, there's not much you'll be able to do to "get rid" of them. At that point your best bet is to offer them a better alternative. Feeders and perching away from the truck might be an answer. Birds are unbelievably tenacious. Appeasement is usually the only viable strategy because you'll never be able to keep up with eradication unless you quit your job and dedicate your life to it.

motion sensor sprinklers will just get you water spots

give them a better perch between the tree line and the cars, maybe would attract more of them though 

if you were to put a few posts there, run a few lines between them and hang mylar strips from the line, it would discourage them some

With the squirrels here my dad used the hose and  his pellet gun.