Taking Flight

Bird pressure is increasing in most urban areas because the supply of the three main ingredients necessary to their existence - shelter, food and water - is growing.

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past couple years, you've probably noticed a sizable increase in the number of bird control products being advertised in pest control trade magazines and being exhibited at pest control conventions. According to Noreen Slavin at the National Pest Control Association, only two bird control product suppliers exhibited at the 1985 national convention; three exhibited in 1990; and a remarkable 11 companies exhibited at last year's convention in Orlando.

Logic dictates that the fact that more companies are selling bird control products indicates that more people are buying and installing these products. But who? And why? Such conspicuous growth within a traditionally small segment of the pest control industry might cause one to wonder, "What's going on here?" The answer: Plenty.

We've been able to identify a number of recent trends that help explain why the bird control segment of the pest control industry is expanding:

• More awareness on the part of the public regarding problems caused by birds, both from a health/sanitation standpoint and from a purely aesthetic/nuisance perspective.

• Increasing bird populations.

• Better bird control products available.

• Increased knowledge, confidence and sophistication on the part of PCOs regarding which bird control products are likely to be effective in which situations.

• Less reliance on lethal techniques.

• More PCOs discovering what a profitable line of business bird control can be.

• Comprehensive training programs that increase the success of bird control technicians.

PUBLIC AWARENESS. It is difficult to pinpoint all the reasons why, but property owners and facility managers are becoming more aware of the health risks posed by bird droppings and nesting materials in, on and around their buildings. These people are increasingly willing to pay good money to solve these problems once and for all.

Airborne spores from dried droppings can enter a building through air conditioning systems, exposing the owners to great liability should employees, customers or patients become ill. Heavy buildup of droppings on roofs will drastically shorten the life expectancy of most roofing materials, so property owners are willing to pay to protect their substantial investments in their roofs. In addition, nesting materials have been known to plug roof drainage, which can result in disaster when warehouse roofs fill with water and collapse. All of these are serious problems for building owners, and collectively they represent a great opportunity for pest control professionals.

Another reason the public is more aware of problems caused by birds is the media. Newspapers and TV and radio news programs have reported many instances of the public health dangers and nuisance problems posed by birds, their droppings and their nesting materials. During the recent Christmas holiday, a family of five in Cleveland, Ohio, died of carbon monoxide poisoning when nesting materials from sparrows plugged up their furnace exhaust pipe. The story received headline coverage on several news broadcasts around the country for several days thereafter. These reports incited a great deal of public concern; in the weeks that followed, consumer demand for carbon monoxide detection devices soared in several parts of the country.

Another reason for the increased public awareness of the predicaments that birds create is the larger number of PCOs now out informing their customers about bird-related problems. Still another is property owners seeing advertisements for bird control products in their industry trade journals and realizing that their "unsolvable" bird problems are solvable after all. And finally, awareness of bird problems by public health inspectors may be leading to increased citations against buildings, forcing owners to clean up their problems or face stiff fines.

Whatever factors are driving the increased public awareness of bird problems, as the public becomes more willing to deal with these troublesome flying pests, they will more often than not turn to their local pest control operator and that's obviously a good thing for our industry.

BIRDS, BIRDS EVERYWHERE. Bird pressure is increasing in most urban areas due to many factors. First, the supply of the three main ingredients important to birds' existence shelter, food and water is growing. Today's buildings often seem to be built for the specific purpose of providing shelter for urban pest birds; and puddles and standing water on roofs provide them with water.

Most people are unaware that pest bird populations shrink and grow based on available shelter, food and water. The more food and water available, the faster pest birds, especially pigeons, reproduce. If urban food sources could be eliminated, bird populations would shrink accordingly, and bird-related problems would not be as serious.

One reason for the apparent increase in bird populations is actually quite the opposite. Because of environmental, political and animal-welfare pressures, some PCOs are becoming gun-shy about trapping and poisoning birds. They are using fewer of these techniques and therefore are not eliminating as many birds as they used to. Horror stories often circulate among PCOs about birds falling dead on crowded playgrounds because a careless PCO used a bird bait incorrectly, or because traps were destroyed by building employees who didn't want to see the birds eliminated.

Still another reason for increased bird pressure is a larger number of PCOs moving birds from one building to another. As more bird control jobs are done using long-lasting mechanical products and techniques, more birds are being moved off of one host building and onto another. PCOs who watch where the newly displaced birds go can introduce themselves to the new host building owner and sell another job before it becomes a serious infestation.

MORE EFFECTIVE PRODUCTS. Because of many new mechanical products on the market that have proven themselves to be effective and long-lasting, PCOs are becoming more confident in their ability to sell and install jobs that will live up to their customers' expectations.

While there are many good, reliable, effective products available in the pest control marketplace, PCO buyers should do business only with established manufacturers and should always be on the lookout for fast-buck artists and fly-by-night operators advertising "remarkable" products that are guaranteed to take care of all bird problems. No bird product on the market today can honestly be sold as a cure-all. Birds are simply too complex; most bird jobs require combinations of products and techniques.

Some of the newer products, while certainly far from being cure-alls, have been well accepted by PCOs. New mechanical ledge products, exclusion netting, and new and improved electrical products are giving PCOs more credibility and confidence to pursue bird control jobs.

With more and better products being introduced regularly, it is an exciting time for PCOs to think about entering or re-entering the bird control business.

A PROFITABLE LINE. As the aforementioned factors become more prevalent, smart PCOs are coming to realize greater profit potential from bird work. More money can be charged for jobs that the customer really needs to have taken care of, and longer-lasting products and longer guarantees can garner higher prices.

"We give a five-year guarantee against system failure," said Raleigh Jenkins of ABC Pest Control in Houston. "We're so confident in the new netting and hardware that's on the market that we feel we can walk away from a job knowing for sure that no bird will enter the protected area for at least five years. That's a good feeling to walk away with."

Other PCOs report a 40% to 50% profit margin on bird jobs using these long-lasting methods. Mike Nikbakht, a branch manager with Dewey Pest Control in Carson, Calif., echoes this point. "We've done several bird jobs during the past 18 months over $5,000 each, and averaged 46% profit margin on coil and netting jobs, " Nikbakht said. "I feel the market is wide open for this type of work. There are bird jobs virtually everywhere I look."

Bird work demands a serious commitment of employees, training, tools and sales effort. But those companies that have made such a commitment find themselves making very respectable profits above and beyond their other non-bird levels.

TRAINING PROGRAMS. Another significant factor fueling the growth in the bird control segment of the pest control marketplace is a cooperative training program co-sponsored by Bird Barrier America and Van Waters & Rogers.

"We realized that the biggest enemy of both the PCO and our own salespeople trying to solve urban bird control problems was a lack of knowledge," said Craig Hanney, director of marketing for Van Waters & Rogers. "PCOs were always calling us telling us about a job that they had no idea how to bid, and we had no idea how to help them. We decided to promote the training program both as a way to offer a unique opportunity to our PCO customers and to train our own staff."

It appears that the two-day training program, "How To Succeed In Every Aspect Of Urban Bird Control," has been helpful to many PCOs.

"I can't tell you what a difference this program made to our business," said Rick Steinau of Ace Exterminating in Cincinnati, Ohio. "We have so much confidence in our abilities that we now actually go out and look for bird jobs. They're always different and fun, and most importantly, profitable. We're really enjoying our new business."

The training program has a unique format: Bird Barrier instructors use a combination of slides, lectures and hands-on training techniques to teach bird behavior, product use, safety, access equipment, estimating and bidding, proposal writing, and several other aspects of performing bird control services.

 To reinforce the teaching, the entire class, which is limited in size to 15 PCOs, participates in a real-life bird job on the second day of the program. Products are installed on a building, so the students benefit from a good deal of exposure to the products, special tools, and the use of access equipment. And the entire group works on an estimator worksheet to calculate what the hard costs of the job would have been.

"We thought the first day was very informative," said Jack Kurtzberg, regional service coordinator for Orkin Pest Control's western commercial region. "But the second day was the real treat. We did a netting job that came out great. We figured out what the job should have cost, and learned how to do the whole thing ourselves. This has definitely changed how we'll look at bird control from here on out."

Bird control has made significant inroads into the pest control marketplace. As a distinct market segment, it appears that bird control will remain a permanent fixture in the industry. Many pest control companies have been making respectable profits on bird control jobs for a long time. But thanks to public awareness, better products, and increased knowledge and confidence on the part of pest control professionals with regard to this highly specialized service, their numbers should continue to grow dramatically.

Cameron Riddell is president of Bird Barrier America Inc., a bird control product manufacturing company based in Redondo Beach, Calif. He has taught a two-day bird control seminar (co-sponsored by Bird Barrier America and Van Waters & Rogers) in numerous locations across the United States, and, along with his colleagues at Bird Barrier, has helped thousands of pest control professionals sell and install successful bird control jobs.