The Pests

Birds at the Patio and the Dumpster: Pigeons and House Sparrows

Written for: Owners and managers of restaurants with patios, drive-throughs, loading docks or exterior dumpster pads

Parts of this page marked Professional synthesis, not law are a Board Certified Entomologist's reading of published records. They are not legal rules, they are not legal advice, and they are written to read the same for an owner, a customer, or either side's counsel.

Birds are rarely on an inspection report, but a patio with pigeons on the rail and a dumpster pad with sparrows in the dropped fries is a sanitation line waiting to happen, and the droppings are the part the sources treat as a health matter. The program is physical: close the places they roost and nest, and stop feeding them.

Exclusion first

Habitat modification and exclusion from structures are generally the most effective ways of controlling nuisance bird populations. — Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, IPM Action Plan for Nuisance Birds

Exclude pigeons with bird netting. — Utah State University Extension, Rock Pigeon

Install plastic netting on parts of the building used for roosting and nesting or use deterrents such as plastic or metal spines on ledges. — Utah State University Extension, House Sparrow

Close all openings larger than 3/4 inch. — Utah State University Extension, House Sparrow

Prevent nesting by installing ½-inch mesh screens over bathroom and exhaust vents. — University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, Urban Pest Birds

In a restaurant the places are the signage, the ledges over the patio, the eaves at the drive-through, the exhaust hood penthouse and the vents. A house sparrow nest in an exhaust vent is three-quarters of an inch of opening that was never closed. The Exclusion Walk has an exterior section for exactly this.

Sanitation

Keep outdoor areas clean and eliminate water sources. — Utah State University Extension, Rock Pigeon

Birds stay where they are fed. A patio bussed quickly, a dumpster lid that closes, a grease bin that does not overflow and a pad that is hosed down are the whole of bird sanitation. Where customers feed the pigeons from the table, a sign is a reasonable step; it is also the step the health department will ask about.

The health references

This site states health claims only where a source states them. On birds, two do:

pigeon droppings may pose a health hazard when allowed to accumulate — Utah State University Extension, Rock Pigeon

All three species host a wide variety of infectious diseases, including some that can harm humans, such as encephalitis and the fungus that causes histoplasmosis. — University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, Urban Pest Birds

House sparrows can carry salmonellosis, psittacosis, and various parasites. — University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, Urban Pest Birds

Accumulated droppings on a patio or a loading dock are the thing to deal with, and dealing with them is a cleaning job with gloves, a mask and wet methods, not a dry sweep that puts the dust in the air.

What this site will not say

Professional synthesis, not law. No bird on a Utah restaurant is a poisoning job. Pigeons and house sparrows are not protected under the federal migratory bird law, but other birds that visit a patio are, and the only program this site describes for any of them is exclusion and sanitation. If a bird is nesting in a vent, close the vent after the nest is empty, and ask before you touch a nest you cannot identify. A photo to (801) 477-0223 gets you the identification.