Tips to keep an inordinate amount of birds away from house

[STEVE G]

can you buy a falcon here ???? scare the crap out of little birds!!!!

My neighbour at my old house on Soi 16 had a couple of them and a bloody great eagle thing. He used to train them on a bit of waste ground behind his house.

[Vital Spark]

I remember reading an article once about the £10 settlers from the UK to Australia who, on their return to the UK, said that the birds in the UK 'twitter' but the birds in Australia 'shouted'. I guess the same could be said about birds here.

Personally, I love the sound of tropical birds, however vociferous they are. The Common Koel is being rather noisy at the moment, but I guess once he's found a mate he'll quieten down.

As for the minors, yes, they can be a bit thuggish (rather like starlings in the UK), but their vocal range is quite amazing (and a joy to listen to). It's quite amusing when they turn up to the bird-bath outside my office window. Sorry to metamorphasise, but I can image them saying to the cute little wagtails, "OK, kids. Clear off! This is our effing barf, awright!".

Give me the sound of birds anytime to the racket of Likay, drunken croanies singing, or the boom, boom, boom of some local big-wig having a party.

VS

[Frank Hovis]

The Magpie Robins have a lovely song, early morning or sunset; they are a delight to listen to.
I also like the Drongo's manic mix of wierd mechanical noises.
I once saw a White Rumped Shama up the road at Huay Sai Tai, past the "zoo" and up the mountain at the lake next to the road, without doubt the best bird song I've ever heard. That was over ten years ago and I've never seen once since.

Maybe we should have a 'Birding' thread that isn't in the Night Crawlers section !

[PeteC]

Yeah, I really like birds too, but need to learn more. When in the States a few years ago I brought back a "Birds of Thailand" book for an Aussie friend. I should have gotten one for myself as well.

I've got the normal variety of mynas, (both brown and crested black), pigeons, sparrows etc, but also the Cuckoos this time of year, and a variety of things I don't know what they are. One is a small black and white bird with a longish tail that bobs up and down all the time. They dart everywhere and very fast. Their call can drive you nuts sometimes as loud and sharp. They stay out the latest of any bird and are still chasing bugs almost in the dark. I also have a hummingbird species that is no bigger than half your thumb. At first I thought it was a bumblebee but no, a hummingbird for sure.

All the landscaping we did 5 years ago is really paying off as we now have more big shade trees on our lots than any other house, and it sure is attracting birds and nesting. We also have a resident Thai squirrel now which looks like a cross between a squirrel and chipmunk. Pete

[PeteC]

...... those Myna birds in the photo which are the most common kind here...... :

One good word about the brown Mynas, they will alert you immediately if a snake is on your property. They'll sit above it somewhere and squawk their heads off. Each time I've investigated: Snake 5 and Cat 2 so far over the past 6 months or so. Pete

[PeteC]

Side note...try to convince a 6 year old that birds are the closest relatives to dinosaurs. I can see that the Mynas definitely descended from Raptors. Pete

[STEVE G]

Personally, I love the sound of tropical birds, however vociferous they are. The Common Koel is being rather noisy at the moment, but I guess once he's found a mate he'll quieten down.

I must admit that I rather like them as well and they were certainly there before we bult our house were it is. They are loud though as I can hear them on the phone when i call every day.!

[Frank Hovis]

Prcscct - Are you sure the hummingbird is bird?
I thought that when I first came here and then found a dead one and it looked like a beetle but it was in fact a Hummingbird moth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroglossum_stellatarum
We used to get them on the Bougainvillea a lot and they appear to be able to transport themselves in the blink of an eye from one plant to another.
The closest I've seen to a small hummingbird type bird here is the Olive Backed Sunbird (or very similar) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive-backed_Sunbird a very small yellow bird with a blue/purple throat that often probes about in flowers and can be heard easily with it's high-pitched 'sweeeet, sweeeet, sweeeet' song.

ETA - convince your child that birds are dinosaurs by letting them see a Thai fighting cockerel that's had a lot of it's feathers removed. It's just a small T-Rex (without the teeth)

[PeteC]

It could be Frank. I see them/it often going to the same five bushes that have very small hanging white flowers. I haven't been able to get closer than about 5 meters. It hovers and goes direct left/right/down/up so I've always assumed it was a hummingbird species. Hopefully one of these days I'll have my camera on the table when it arrives. Pete

[Nereus]

This is an old post but still relevant. It has wandered away from the original question, but the following may be of interest.

I was recently directed to this by the best pest control guy in Hua Hin, but he is too busy to take it on himself. They have agents around the country and the owner speaks English.

http://www.stop-bird.com/en/index.php

[lagojardin]

This is one of the noisy little B****ds - Its that time of year again !!

http://home.tiscali.nl/jvanderw/malaysi ... ankoel.mp3

[Big Boy]

We've been getting that sound most nights outside of our house for the last 9 months.

[Dannie Boy]

We've been getting that sound most nights outside of our house for the last 9 months.

Yes not sure what the name of the bird is but they are everywhere and whilst they can be annoying, I also find them quite fascinating as the sound tends to get louder and faster and just before the cresendo it stops!!!

[usual suspect]

Getting back to the O/P How about a large ceramic owl or two..?? Many places by the roadside sells these clay animals etc..maybe up to the owner to paint it as lifelike as poss..?? Would these birds reconise the danger-element of an owl sat looking at 'em??

[Ralfredo]

how about a big C A T

Because my 2 D O G S kill C A T S.

Then your C A T is not B I G enough.