Brand new truck, 1002 miles on the clock, and just drove it Saturday on it’s maiden voyage pulling the camper. I even popped the hood and checked the oil after unhooking the camper. Fast forward to around lunch today when my wife texts me (I’m at work) telling me she sees a lot of “bird action” around the front passenger tire. I get home, unload groceries, and head over to the truck fully expecting to just pull the start of a nest from the top of the coil spring perch. It happened pretty regularly with our Jeeps over the years. I look in and realize it is a little more involved...and when I tried to grab a few handfuls of twigs I had a bird start freaking out under the hood! Popped the hood and then saw that they had been working as a team. One bird was fetching the material and depositing it behind the coil spring while the other bird was under the hood busy making the huge nest. Turns out they were weaving all the material through the wire harness, around the injectors, in the crevices of the air intake, and even between the exhaust manifold and the adjacent heat shroud. Took me the better part of 2 hours to clear it all out. Needed needle nose pliers, a 2’ length of wire with a hook on the end, and two batteries in the leaf blower before I had it all looking new again. Now I have to come up with a plan to keep them out otherwise I’m sure by noon tomorrow they will have it halfway completed again. Birds suck.

 

I've had success using household ammonia applied around nesting areas, using a spray bottle. They return because they're left their scent where ever, the ammonia annoying enough to keep them away.

 

Okay, I'm about to torch everything!!! Seriously though, I've pulled nests 4 times, hung tons of the reflective tape, the swiveling disks that look like large eyes, mesh netting, and cardboard cut/fit to cover the openings behind the wheels. But they still keep coming back. I sprayed ammonia all over everything and that didn't seem to make a difference. I even took the truck away from Friday at noon until Monday around 9am and they still started again this morning with a new next. I had hoped they would give up once the truck was gone and find another spot to start on...nope. Any other advice? I'm at my wits end!

 

park a D9 next to the truck, a CAT that size will scare any bird

 

I bought a rubber snake and used it successfully into keeping the nests out of the inside of my 5th wheel hitch.

 

So sorry my ammonia trick didn't work---hope it didn't make too big a mess? Do these nesting materials re-appear in the same spot each time?

 

Yes, they do. Pulling the grass and small branches up past the coilspring perch on either side (driver/passenger) and then continually start weaving a nest all throughout the wiring and and injectors on the passenger top side of the engine. Lots of it falls down between the exhaust manifold and the outer heat shroud which is especially frustrating. That takes quite a while with a hooked length of wire and a leaf blower before I get all the bits out. It is almost a daily chore now and I'm frankly at wits end.

 

The birds are European Starlings which are the A-holes of the bird world....so I'm about ready to start popping them off with a BB gun. I live in an HOA-governed development surrounded by neighbors and lots of children though so I'm hesitant to take that next step in case someone sees me and makes a bigger deal than it is. That's why I'd rather find a simpler solution. I did pick up some black aluminum screen (3'x7' roll of it) that is flexible enough to form around the suspension and try to block them. But I don't want to make it haphazard and have to remove every time I drive nor do I want to spend an hour carefully designing it so that it stays in place permanently. Stupid birds.

 

Starlings are messy and are an invasive species introduced here in 1890. They are trouble everywhere you find them.

If this isn't a daily driver, you might try the plastic bird netting around the front of the vehicle. It's easy to fiddle with and cheap and won't scratch things.

Once you discourage them, they may not come back.

Popping them is very satisfying. We had them on the farm, with a messy nest and crap covered wall below it. I tried to get them a few times with no luck. Then I noticed the bird would land and look around before heading to the nest. So I sat in the passenger seat of the F600 with the driver's window down. Doc Marlin applied the medicine needed to cure that bird's nasty habits. Your luck may vary in a populated area, where even a BB gun will get the SWAT team on you.

 

Use the Hawk Decoy used in gardens, on each spring perch, Red Rider has served us country rednecks well, transplanted into city life, keeping cats off hoods.