How To Keep Birds Out Of Retractable Awning | Ideas

With the best retractable awnings available on the market, you can easily enjoy your time with your family under the cool shade of your patio. However, you might not be the only person enjoying the shade. You may find birds trying to make nests in the awning frame, hood, or fabric. 

These critters can be a nuisance and, sometimes, even cause damage to your retractable awning. But don't let them ruin your fun evenings. I have researched some ways through which you can keep the birds away from the retractable awning and enjoy your "patio" time. 

Deterrents To Keep Birds From Building Nests In Your Retractable Awning

You might wonder - “are retractable awnings worth it?” - Well, the answer is yes. But you will need to take the necessary precautions to keep birds away, preventing them from building nests. 

The concept here is that if they are deterred from building a nest in a comfortable space, they will move along and find a new safe corner. Here I have discussed a few ways to go about this: 

1. Choose A Cassette Style Awning

Birds that live in retractable awnings usually do so on the squared anchoring bar beneath the fabric rolling tube on versions with exposed bars. Whenever you plan to have retractable awnings installed on vinyl siding, I suggest getting a cassette-style awning so that the birds don't have space to build their nests.  

2. Bird Spikes

Installing clear acrylic bird spikes can be a good way to keep the birds away. You can easily mount them all along the top of the square mount bar of the awning or any covered flat locations on your property. 

Rest assured these spikes are not sharp enough to hurt the birds. All they do is prevent them from landing.  

3. PVC Tube Along The Square Bar

To prevent birds from living in your awning, you can easily insert a 1.5" diameter plastic pipe (normally used in plumbing work). The length of the pipe will take up the space required for the birds to build their nest.  

4. Install A Scare Device

You can install various scare devices like fake predators to keep the birds at bay. A rubber snake or an owl, for instance, works great as a bird deterrent. 

I’d suggest using the bobblehead versions to scare the birds away. And make sure to frequently change the position of these devices so that they look real.  

5. Use Your Awning Often

This method of keeping the birds away from the awning is the safest and most effective. Identify the times of the year when birds are more active in building nests and try to use your awning more frequently during those times. Through these actions, the birds will get the idea that the awning is frequently used, meaning they cannot build their nest there.  

6. Use Bird Netting

Installing a bird netting over your awning can make it easier for you to keep the birds away from it and prevent them from building nests.

7. Use A Motion-Activated Sprinkler

Another good idea to prevent the birds from entering your awning is to use a motion-activated sprinkler. The sprinkler can easily sense when a bird enters the awning and spray water on them to scare them away. However, you need to install this device in a place where birds frequently build nests, and not where people sit. 

How To Keep Birds Out Of Retractable Awning Final Words: Avoid Attracting Birds To Your Backyard To Build Nests

Like every other animal on the planet, a bird is in search of food, water, and shelter. If you have bird amenities like a bird bath or hanging bird feeders, the flying species will be attracted to your house and build a nest whenever and wherever possible (your retractable awning, for example).

Listening to the chirping of the birds can be relaxing at times, but when they build a nest in your awning, it can be a mess to clean up the surroundings. With some of these simple remedies I have listed above, you can easily keep pigeons, sparrows, and other small birds at bay.