Despite what you may have seen on social media, wind chimes are not the best way to deter birds from your garden. The truth is that there aren’t any studies to prove if wind chimes deter or attract birds—just anecdotal evidence and common sense approaches to making sure birds are attracted (or kept away from) your yard, whatever your preference.
Ditto if you’ve noticed birds aren’t coming to your feeder or bird bath: It’s probably not the wind chimes that’s keeping them away. Reasons they may not use a feeder include the location, type of seed, or time of year. They may not visit a birdbath because it’s too deep, dirty, or too high off the ground.
Read on to see what our wildlife experts have to say about birds and the use of wind chimes in your garden:
Do Wind Chimes Scare Birds?
The answer to this question is a definite…maybe. “Under certain circumstances, noises and sounds or motions made by certain types of chimes might deter nearby birds in a given area for a short time,” says Robert Pierce, PhD, state extension fisheries and wildlife specialist at the University of Missouri. “But in my experience, wildlife often become acclimated to these types of deterrents.”
Like most wildlife that comes to your yard, such as deer or raccoons, birds may at first be disturbed by something new, such as windchimes. But once they figure out it’s not going to harm them, they likely will just ignore them. “There’s no peer reviewed research on this topic,” says Mike Mengak, PhD, professor emeritus and wildlife specialist at the University of Georgia. “My humble opinion is that they don’t scare them. Anecdotally, I have wind chimes and bird feeders within 2 to 4 feet of each other, and the birds don’t seem deterred in any way.”
That being said, it’s likely fine to hang your wind chimes near bird feeders or bird baths. “Given to how birds habituate to things like dogs and even mechanical avoidance devices for nuisance wildlife like Canada Geese, I would not think chimes will cause a problem,” says Curtis Smalling, executive director of Audubon North Carolina.
Using Wind Chimes To Deter Birds
Let’s say you want birds to stay out of your garden. Placing wind chimes nearby isn’t going to do much for you. “First of all, you’re relying on the operation of the windchimes contingent on the wind,” says Wesley Anderson, PhD, assistant professor at Auburn University and wildlife extension specialist at the Alabama Coop Extension System. “That’s not reliable, and I wouldn’t recommend this when we do have other tools to deter birds from an area.”
Ways To Deter Birds From Your House And Garden
If you are having issues with birds roosting in undesirable areas, or if you want to keep them away from your garden, try these tips:
- Use scare devices to discourage birds from visiting. The most effective methods are those that involve movement, such as long strips of aluminum foil, holographic mylar tape streamers, or bobbing balloons, says Pierce. Stationery deterrents, such as a scarecrow, plastic owl or cat silhouette, are not effective.
- Forget about “repellants” such taste repellants, essential oils, or sonic devices because there’s no evidence these things work, says Mengak.
- Use plastic bird netting on fruit trees or shrubs, such as blueberries, to protect your harvest. Excluding birds from your edibles is effective. Use PVC tubing to create a frame to drape netting over so the nets don’t become tangled in the shrubs.
- Keep birds from roosting. Use a metal covering or board at a 45-degree angle over ledges where birds like to roost or nest, or use bird spikes that stick out at various angles to prevent birds from landing, says Pierce.
- Temporarily remove feeders and bird baths. This may have some short-term benefit, but it’s not foolproof, says Pierce.
