Bird Control & Proofing across Greater Manchester.

What are the signs that birds have settled on your building?

Most sites notice the fouling before they notice the birds. Streaks of droppings down brickwork below a ledge, a crust on a canopy or loading-bay floor, and feathers collecting in a roof void all point to birds that are roosting, not just passing through.

Other signs worth logging:

• nesting material, twigs and broken eggshell behind signage, in gutters, under solar panels or inside plant rooms;
• birds lined up on the same parapet at dusk, which tells you the building is a night roost;
• blocked gutters and hoppers, and damp patches inside where rainwater has backed up;
• gulls swooping at staff or delivery drivers in late spring and early summer, which usually means chicks nearby;
• mites or small beetles around a window or vent, sometimes moving in from an old nest.

A few pigeons feeding on a forecourt is a housekeeping issue. A flock that sleeps on the building every night is a structural one, because those birds will return however clean the ground is.

Why do pigeons and gulls choose buildings in Greater Manchester?

Feral pigeons descend from cliff-nesting rock doves, and Manchester’s Victorian and Edwardian commercial buildings give them sheltered cliffs: deep window reveals, cornices, terracotta detailing and the undersides of railway viaducts and canopies. Converted mills and warehouses add balconies, cavities and redundant ductwork. In the city centre, food is rarely far away, with takeaways, bin stores and people who feed birds deliberately.

Further out, the large flat-roofed and portal-frame buildings on industrial and retail estates such as Trafford Park offer open loading canopies, warm roof plant and racking just inside roller doors. Gulls, mostly herring and lesser black-backed, also nest on flat roofs well inland and defend them noisily, sometimes aggressively, through the breeding season. In the suburbs, a common problem is pigeons nesting under rooftop solar panels on semis and terraces, where the gap between panel and tiles makes a dry, warm ledge.

Feral pigeons can breed in any month, so a colony will keep raising young for as long as nest sites are available, which is why exclusion, not removing birds, is the method that lasts.

How does the bird-proofing process work?

Every job starts with a survey, not a quote from a photograph. We identify the species and how birds use each area (feeding, loafing, roosting or nesting), what the fixings will go into, and how we will reach the work safely. We also check for active nests, because that decides when work can start, and whether the building is listed, because fixings into historic fabric may need listed building consent.

You then receive a written proposal with photographs, the system specified for each area, the access method and the timing. For trading premises and managed blocks, a risk assessment and method statement lets your facilities team, managing agent or principal contractor approve the work.

On installation day we clear empty nests and fouling, check no birds are inside any area about to be enclosed, then fit the system and hand over a record of what was installed.

Which proofing system suits which part of a building?

• Netting closes off large spaces such as loading canopies, light wells, courtyards, viaduct arches and roof plant areas. Mesh size follows the smallest target bird, from around 19 mm for sparrows to 75 mm for gulls.
• Spikes suit ledges, signage, lamps and parapets where birds stand rather than nest.
• Post-and-wire is the discreet choice for architectural ledges, stone detailing and sensitive frontages.
• Gel suits narrow features where spikes would look wrong or cannot be fixed.
• Electric track gives landing birds a mild, harmless pulse; it is unobtrusive on prominent ledges but needs more upkeep.
• Solar panel mesh clips around the edge of an array to stop birds nesting underneath.

Hawk flying and scaring devices can move birds on from open sites, but on their own they rarely shift a settled roost.

What does the law allow you to do about pigeons and gulls?

All wild birds, their eggs and nests that are in use or being built are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Proofing and deterrence are lawful, provided they do not injure birds, destroy an active nest or trap a bird inside. Killing or taking birds, or taking or destroying an active nest or its eggs, generally needs a licence.

For feral pigeons, Natural England’s general licence GL41 lets an owner, occupier or someone they authorise kill or take birds, or remove nests and eggs, to prevent slips and falls, the spread of disease to people or safety problems caused by nesting, subject to its conditions. The current GL41 runs to 31 December 2026 and does not override other law. Herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls are not listed on GL41, so dealing with an active gull nest on a building normally needs an individual licence. In most cases the practical answer is to proof the roof between breeding seasons.

Is bird proofing safe for staff, customers, children and pets?

Proofing is exclusion, not poison. No baits or chemicals are used to deter the birds, so once installation is finished there is nothing for a child, pet or customer to come into contact with.

The risks sit with the work itself. Dried droppings can carry organisms linked to illnesses such as psittacosis and cryptococcosis. The risk to passers-by is low, but cleaning disturbs dust, so our team damps fouling down, wears respiratory protection, bags waste and disinfects the surface rather than dry-sweeping or jet-washing it into the air. Work at height is planned under the risk assessment, with an exclusion zone below. If you find dead birds, do not handle them; Defra’s current guidance explains which finds should be reported.

How many visits does bird proofing take?

Most buildings need a survey visit and one installation visit. Large sites, heavy fouling, several elevations or phased work around tenants add days. Where a nest is active, that area waits until it is no longer in use, so the installation may be split. Netted areas should then be inspected periodically and after storms, because one torn panel can let a pigeon in and trap it.

How do you stop birds coming back after proofing?

The proofing does most of the work, but birds return to whatever still attracts them. Keep bins lidded and bin stores closed, clear food waste from yards quickly, and ask staff and tenants not to feed birds. Keep gutters clear, and report damaged netting early. Food waste that draws pigeons also draws rats, so on food sites bird proofing often sits alongside rodent control in the same pest-management plan.

When does DIY bird control stop being enough?

A householder can fit a strip of spikes to a ground-floor ledge. Beyond that, DIY tends to fail for predictable reasons: plastic owls and reflective discs stop working once birds get used to them, cheap netting sags and traps birds, and anything above first floor brings real work-at-height risk.

Get help if there is an active nest, if birds are inside a roof void or plant room, if the job involves solar panels or a listed building, or if fouling has built up over a walkway or entrance. Avoid improvised glues and sticky pastes too: they can hold small birds, and using bird-lime or a similar substance to take a wild bird is an offence under section 5 of the 1981 Act.

What should a business or landlord record?

For food businesses, an environmental health officer is likely to treat birds in a loading bay or near open food as a pest-control issue. Retained Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, enforced in England through the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, requires adequate procedures to control pests, so file the survey, proofing specification, photographs and inspection reports with your HACCP pest-management records or Safer Food Better Business pack. That evidence helps when an inspector scores your premises and management under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Our commercial pest control and food premises pest control services can include checks of the proofing at each routine visit.

For landlords and managing agents, pigeons nesting in a roof or blocking gutters can become a repair issue. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 covers the structure and exterior, including gutters and drains, of most residential lets under seven years, pests can be assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 gives tenants a route to act if a home is unfit. Who pays depends on the lease and the cause, so keep reports of what was found and fixed; our pest control for landlords page covers this.

If lethal control is used under a general licence, Natural England recommends keeping records of methods, species, numbers, dates and locations for at least three years.