Bird-brained? Gull colony cures don’t always succeed

Companies and individuals have suggested a range of methods to prevent gulls from nesting on our roofs, with varying degrees of success.

A novel plan formulated in Arbroath several years ago, in which community councillor Ian Watson claimed a certain shade of Manchester United red deterred gulls from landing, had high hopes of solving the problem once and for all.

However, despite Angus Council initially showing interest in the scheme, it was never trialled after further research showed there was no scientific evidence to support it.

There is a wide market of items that supposedly scare birds away, but questions have been raised as to how well these products actually work.

Ultrasonic systems are available, which emit a high-pitched noise that irritates the gulls into flying away.

However, as birds have similar hearing to humans, their effect is limited, and will be equally irksome to people as they are to the gulls.

There are also systems which send out the call of gulls’ predators.

These are thought to be more effective, but falconers say gulls quickly realise these non-existent predators offer no real danger.

More drastic action includes placing spikes on the top of buildings, but this is controversial and can cause permanent injury to the birds.

Councils choose more long term solutions, by reducing the number of rubbish bags left out and introducing gull-proof bins.

Community councillor Ian Watson claimed a certain shade of red deterred the birds.