You watch the figs all summer. They finally colour up, you give them one more day, and overnight a flock of lorikeets takes the lot. Netting works but it is a job, and anything with a motor needs power and a place to put it. These are thirty-centimetre mylar spirals on a string — you hang a dozen through the tree and they turn in the lightest breeze, throwing flashes of reflected sun in every direction. Nothing to charge, nothing to switch on, nothing to refill.

Why It Stands Out

• Twelve of them — a single spiral protects very little. A dozen spaced through a tree or along a row is what creates a zone birds would rather fly around than through.
• It runs on wind and sun — no battery, no solar panel to position, no switch. As a bird scarer it works the day you hang it and keeps working with nothing from you.
• The twist is the whole mechanism — a spiral catches air from any direction and spins, where a flat strip just hangs there in a light breeze.
• Light and movement together — the flash is what birds notice from distance; the movement is what stops them settling once they are close.
• 30 cm each — long enough to read from across a yard, short enough to hang inside a fruit tree without tangling in the branches.
• Nothing to maintain — no refills, no cartridges, no cleaning a solar panel every few weeks.
• They go where netting cannot — a single branch, a balcony rail, the gap under a verandah roof, the spot above a doorway that keeps getting fouled.

Where to Hang Them

• Through a fruit tree — figs, stone fruit, citrus, apples. Spread them through the canopy rather than clustering on one branch, so there is no clear gap to come in through.
• Over the veggie patch — strung along a line above the beds, where seedlings and ripening tomatoes get worked over by blackbirds and mynas.
• Along a grape vine or a berry row — hung every metre or so down the wire, which is where the flashing is most visible against the leaves.
• Under a verandah or carport roof — the beam or rafter that keeps getting nested on, where a pigeon deterrent that needs no power is the only practical option.
• Above a doorway or a window ledge — the spots that get fouled, where netting is impossible and anything bulky looks wrong.
• Around a pool or an outdoor table — hung from the pergola or the umbrella frame to keep the area clear while you are using it.
• Along a fence line or above a chook run — where starlings and mynas come in to raid the feed.

How It Works

1. The spiral catches air from any angle — the twist means a breeze from any direction turns it rather than pushing it sideways.
2. Turning, it throws light in all directions — the mirrored mylar reflects sun as it spins, so the flash sweeps around rather than pointing one way.
3. The flashing is unpredictable — speed and angle change with the wind, so it never settles into a pattern.
4. Birds avoid what they cannot read — moving light in a space they were about to land in is enough to send most of them somewhere else.

How to Hang Them

1. Unwind each spiral before you hang it — they pack flat and need opening out into the full twist, or they will not turn properly.
2. Use the attached string — a loop over a branch, a wire, a hook or a nail. Nothing to tie off and no tools.
3. Spread them out, do not bunch them — a metre or so apart through a tree or along a row. Twelve spaced out covers a tree; twelve together covers one branch.
4. Hang them where sun reaches — the flash is half the effect, so the ones in deep shade do far less work than the ones catching light.
5. Leave them room to turn — clear of leaves and wire, so a light breeze actually moves them rather than catching them up.
Tip: move them every few weeks. Birds work out what is harmless if it stays in exactly the same place all season, and shifting a dozen spirals around the tree takes five minutes. This one habit is the difference between something that works all summer and something that works for a fortnight.

NB: these need two things to do their job — light and air. A position that catches sun for part of the day and sits where a breeze moves through will do far more than one tucked deep inside dense foliage on a still corner of the yard. Hang them high enough to swing freely and spread the dozen across the whole area you are protecting rather than concentrating them. And through the weeks when the fruit is actually ripening, move them around; that is when it matters most.

Care and Maintenance

• Wipe the dust off occasionally. The reflection is the point, and a season's dust and pollen dulls it. A damp cloth takes seconds.
• Re-open any that have flattened. Wind and rain gradually close the twist; pulling them back out restores the spin.
• Check the strings after a storm. They are light enough to blow loose off a branch.
• Take them down and store them flat out of season. They pack away small and come back out next summer.

Specifications

What's Included

• 12 × Reflective spiral bird scarer with hanging string