What happens if I don't get rid of gulls?

By Ellie Foster7 min readApr 2022

Irritating, noisy, messy, and aggressive. Just some words you might use to describe the army of gulls that are nesting on your building. But why have they chosen your building, how can you get rid of them, and what happens if you don't get rid of gulls?

Why Gulls Are Attracted to Your Building

There are a number of reasons why gulls are nesting and breeding on your premises.

Your location: Is your building located next to businesses that sell food? Maybe it's near a park where people are feeding the birds. Food is one of the main things that attracts gulls to a site.

Your business activities: Are you a food business? Do you store or serve food on your premises? Expect hungry gulls to be lurking nearby.

Your building: Breeding season is underway. When gulls are looking for somewhere to build a nest, they look for somewhere quiet where they're protected from predators, people, and the elements. Gulls love flat roofs, window ledges, and solar panels.

What Happens If I Don't Get Rid of Gulls?

If you don't act to get rid of gulls, they can cause a lot of damage to your business.

Their droppings are a health hazard: A gull population will cover your building and walkways with droppings (guano). Gull guano contains some nasty bacteria like salmonella and enterococcus as well as fungus that can cause lung problems. Not only are their droppings full of germs, they can also make walkways very slippery.

Gulls can damage your building, vehicles, and machinery: Gull droppings look awful. Would you want your clients to visit and see your building covered in them? But they don't just look unsightly. They can contaminate air conditioning units and vents and because they are very acidic, they can corrode metal and damage brickwork.

Your roof isn't safe either. If gulls are nesting on it, they can cause structural problems. Their nesting materials can block pipes and gutters and if the materials aren't cleared away, they attract other pests like flies.

You, your clients, and customers could be at risk: Gulls can become extremely aggressive during breeding season. If they think you're too close to their chicks, (or you appear to be eating a tasty sausage roll), they will swoop. This can result in you, your clients, or customers being injured.

So How Can I Get Rid of Gulls?

Gulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The law makes it an offence to kill or injure the birds, or destroy or remove their nests without an appropriate licence. Even with a licence, there are conditions for use. For example, culling would only be permitted where the gulls are posing a risk to human health and safety, causing damage to agricultural land, or putting aircraft at risk. But when it comes to getting rid of gulls, you do have options.

Keep your outdoor spaces clean and tidy: This means no overflowing bins or bags of rubbish left out. Talk to neighbouring businesses to make sure they are looking after their general housekeeping too. One lacklustre waste management regime can cause problems for all of you.

Check your roof: Repair any damage. The last thing you want is gulls or other pest birds getting into your roof space. Have your solar panels inspected too as gulls often nest under them.

Call in the professionals: Don't be tempted to try and get rid of gulls on your own, call in the professionals. We understand bird behaviour and we've controlled bird populations in some challenging locations like power stations and railway platforms. We survey your site and work with you to find a solution to get rid of gulls that meets your needs. This is important because every site is different.

A huge part of controlling a pest bird population is bird proofing. There are some great options which are a mix of deterrents and physical barriers to prevent gulls from landing and nesting on your building. The options we'll talk to you about will include:

Bird Spikes, Bird Netting, Bird Wire, Symterra, Fire Gel, Bird Exclusion Mesh, Bird Scarers