Pigeons are known to peck away at plants, and often arrive in gardens in large flocks to wreak havoc on your property. These pesky birds not only like to nibble on flower buds and fruits, but their dropping can contaminate soil with harmful bacteria, which poses a health risk to humans. 

Luckily, there's a simple way to keep pigeons away, according to Tanya Anderson, an organic gardener and founder of Lovely Greens, who recommends hanging CDs around your garden to scare them off. She explained: “Tie old CDs by a string in your fruit trees, bushes, or elsewhere in your garden. Their reflective surfaces will flash as they move in the breeze, scaring birds away.”

Pigeons are scared of sudden movement and flashing light as they do not understand what is happening, and this disturbance will make them incredibly nervous. 

They often mistake quick movements for predators, and the constantly shifting light can be disorienting, making the area feel unsafe and encouraging them to stay away.

This is a very effective way to recycle any CDs or DVDs you have sitting in your home, but this method will also work by hanging up tin foil strips instead. 

You can also use pinwheels to scare pigeons, as the more unfamiliar objects they see, the less likely they are to enter your garden.

How to use CDs to keep pigeons away

All you need to do is hang CDs in areas pigeons tend to land, such as near plants, on trees or on any open space in your garden.

It's best to position the CDs at different heights to ensure their movement and the reflected light are visible from different angles. Make sure to space them out, as too many cluttered close together can diminish their effectiveness

However, it should be noted that pigeons tend to be quite clever creatures and after a few weeks they can adapt to figure out that a CD is harmless. 

Tanya said: “One of the most significant things to take from it is that birds aren’t stupid. They quickly realise that a scarecrow left in the same place for weeks isn’t going to harm them. 

“It’s the same thing with any other ‘scaring’ method: pinwheels, ribbons, decoys, etc. If you’re trying to scare birds away, it’s important to switch things up.”

The absolute best way to get rid of pigeons is to regularly change and adjust your deterrents every month to keep these birds wary of the area. 

If you use CDs, then make sure to move them to a different place but also use other scaring techniques like scarecrows, strange smells and you even plant white flowers as they are also known to get pigeons away.