Indian Myna Bird Protection

Myna birds are an invasive species which compete aggressively with native birds for nesting sites and food. They will move into a territory and displace native birds.

A couple of Myna birds have unfortunately moved into my neighborhood. My first run in with them was when they wanted to build a nest in my balcony ceiling. This was solved by patching the hole with tape. Recently they have taken to digging in my planter boxes which I have on my balcony and in the process damaging the plants and making a mess by spilling dirt onto the floor. At first, I tried to co-exist, but this just made them more brazen. Enough was enough and a solution was required. That solution was bamboo spikes.

Bamboo skewers

I tried deterring the Mynas by cutting some bamboo skewers into 4 pieces using a pair of wire cutters and then placing the mini spikes in the planter boxes. While hesitant, I observed the Myna bird walking over the spikes, lesson learnt, the spikes need to be longer than a bird's leg length.

If short spikes aren't the answer, then how about long spikes? I purchased another packet of bamboo skewers and placed them in the planter boxes without shortening them.

So far, so good. The Myna birds have been staying away from my balcony and the plants are recovering.