Pigeon Control in Las Vegas: Roofs, Solar Panels and Feeding Laws

Cooing over the bedroom at first light. White streaks down the roof tiles below the solar array. Twigs and feathers in the gutter, and the same four birds on the ridge every evening. Pigeons are a visible pest in Las Vegas, and a stubborn one, because they are not visiting. They live on the building.

This page explains pigeon control in Las Vegas: why pigeons settle on tile roofs and under solar panels, what the damage and health concerns are, what the city and county codes say about feeding them, which control methods last and which do not, and what a proper job includes. The facts come from the Nevada Department of Agriculture, the Las Vegas Municipal Code, the Clark County Code, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Southern Nevada Health District.

Exterminator Vegas is a referral service, not a pest control or bird control company. We do not remove birds, install netting or clean roofs, and we hold no pest control license. When you call or send the request form, we connect you with an independent local provider, and that provider handles the inspection, the price and the work. The about page explains how that works.

Why pigeons choose Las Vegas roofs

The city pigeon is the rock pigeon, Columba livia, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists among the birds that are not native to the United States and were introduced by people. The Nevada Department of Agriculture’s training manual says it becomes a problem mainly through roosting and nesting on buildings, and describes pigeons as birds that live alongside people and range over large territories. They are also strongly attached to a site once they have chosen it. The manual says frightening pigeons away is rarely successful because they are very territorial.

On a Las Vegas house there are three kinds of place to check.

Tile roofs

On a tile roof, ask the provider to check for openings under the tiles along the eaves, the valleys where two slopes meet, the line where a lower roof meets a wall, and the space behind a chimney or a rooftop air conditioning unit. In the KTNV report described below, the technician pointed to the V where roof slopes meet as a place where waste builds up.

Solar panels

KTNV has reported on a Summerlin family whose pool, trampoline and yard were covered in droppings about a year after solar panels went onto their roof. A pest control technician told the station that panels give pigeons nesting space and that his company is often called to clear them out. The fix he described is wire mesh around the panels, which he said a solar company can fit at installation if the customer asks for it.

Ledges, covers and signs

The manual speaks of roosting, nesting and loafing areas as separate things, so on a larger building the mess can show up in more than one place. Ledges, patio covers, carports and the backs of signs are the places to walk around and look at from the ground.

What pigeons do to a property

The Department’s manual says pigeon droppings can speed up the deterioration of structures and ruin their appearance. In the KTNV report, the technician said droppings can damage solar panels, and the family described sweeping their yard every day.

The volume is larger than people expect. When Clark County passed its feeding ordinance in 2017, KSNV reported health officials as saying a single pigeon can produce up to 25 pounds of droppings in a year.

Then there is health. The manual lists the diseases that can be passed to people through pigeons, their parasites or their droppings: salmonellosis, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, encephalitis and toxoplasmosis. The CDC explains how histoplasmosis works. People get it by breathing in spores of a fungus that is typically found in soil and in bird or bat droppings in certain areas of the United States, and the spores are released when contaminated soil is disturbed. It does not spread from person to person. The CDC’s page names no state, so take this as the reason for careful cleanup and not as a Las Vegas statistic.

That shapes how cleanup is done. The CDC says large amounts of bird or bat droppings should be cleaned up by professional companies that specialize in removing hazardous waste, and that avoiding activities that disturb droppings helps prevent the disease. A pest control professional quoted by KSNV in 2018 said droppings can be drawn into air conditioning units and circulated through a building. Heavy accumulations are not a job for a broom or a leaf blower.

The law: feeding rules, protected status and licenses

Feeding pigeons is unlawful in the city and in the county

Inside the city of Las Vegas the rule is Las Vegas Municipal Code 7.38.055. It makes it unlawful, and a public nuisance, for any person to encourage the lingering, roosting or congregating of wild pigeons by providing food intended for them, whether on public property or on private residential property. Food includes grain, seeds, greens, bread crumbs and miscellaneous food scraps. The only exception in the section is feeding done under a permit granted under the same chapter. The code defines a wild pigeon as any common pigeon of the species Columba livia, and the section was added by an ordinance of October 17, 2018.

In unincorporated Clark County the rule is Clark County Code 10.36.035, added by an ordinance of November 7, 2017. It declares the roosting or lingering of wild pigeons a public nuisance, and makes it unlawful to encourage wild pigeons to linger, roost or congregate by providing food intended for them on public or residential property. Section 10.40.040 of the same title makes a violation of the title a misdemeanor. Neither feeding section prints a fine of its own, so we quote none.

Codes are amended. Read the current section for the city or county your address is in before relying on any summary, this one included.

This matters for control, not only for neighbors’ tempers. A yard where someone scatters seed every morning can hold a flock on the surrounding roofs no matter what is installed on yours. If feeding nearby is part of the problem, tell the provider, and report it to the city or county your address is in. Hotels and motels have a rule of their own: the Southern Nevada Health District’s public accommodation regulations prohibit the feeding of feral birds and animals.

Pigeons are not federally protected, but other birds are

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publishes a list of birds that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act does not cover because they are not native and were introduced by people. The rock pigeon is one of the examples the Service names. It adds that states and communities may still protect such species if they choose, and that other laws continue to apply.

Two cautions follow. First, other birds that nest on buildings may be protected. The Service says the Act protects most migratory bird species, together with their nests and eggs, and the Department’s manual warns license holders that work on swallows and their nests must comply with the federal and state regulations that protect them. A provider needs to know what is on your eave before removing anything. Second, handling has to be humane. The manual tells license holders that traps must hold water at all times and that trapped birds must be fed, watered and kept humanely.

Who needs a pest control license for pigeon work

Here Nevada’s rules differ from every other pest on this site. The Department of Agriculture states that controlling pigeons and other vertebrate pests using mechanical devices does not require a license, and the state’s regulations say the same: NAC 555.260 exempts a person who controls vertebrate pests by means other than the use of pesticides. A company that only installs netting, mesh or spikes can lawfully work without the Department’s pest control license.

That puts more of the checking on you. Ask for the company’s business license, current proof of insurance that covers roof work, and addresses of jobs you can look at from the street. The exemption ends where chemicals begin. Anyone who applies a pesticide for hire needs the Department’s license. If a provider proposes anything other than hardware, ask for the license number and check it on the Department’s Pest Control program page.

Pigeon control methods, by how long they last

The Department’s manual reviews the methods one by one and reaches a clear conclusion: exclusion, meaning hardware that physically keeps birds out of the places they roost and nest, is the most permanent and effective approach, and long-term programs should focus on exclusion and not on poisoning.

Method	What the Department’s manual says	What it means for you
Exclusion: mesh, netting, spikes and closures	The most permanent and effective way to prevent roosting and nesting	The method to ask about first for solar arrays, eaves, ledges and patio covers
Trapping	May be effective in removing pigeons. Traps need water at all times, and trapped birds must be fed and kept humanely	It removes birds, not the roost. The manual’s long-term answer is still exclusion
Sticky repellents	May drive birds away, but can stain buildings and are usually short term. Less effective at high temperatures and in strong sun	A poor match for a sunny ledge in a city with a 104.5 degree normal July high
Scare devices	Rarely successful. They may work for a short time, but flocks get used to them	Do not expect a lasting result
Poison	Long-term programs should focus on exclusion, not on poisoning	Not a homeowner method. Anyone applying a pesticide for hire needs the state license

The reason exclusion wins is the same reason pigeons are hard to scare. They are loyal to a site. As long as the space under the panels is open, birds can be expected to try it. Closing it off takes away what they come back for.

What a pigeon control job involves

The providers we work with each set their own process, prices and schedule. A complete job normally has five parts.

1. Inspection. Where the birds nest, where they roost, how many there are, how they get in, and whether food or water nearby is holding them.
2. Removing birds and nests. Nests, eggs and debris are cleared from under panels, tiles and equipment before anything is closed, so that no bird is shut in.
3. Cleanup. Droppings are removed and the area is cleaned, with care not to raise dust.
4. Exclusion. Mesh, netting, closures or ledge products are fitted to every place the birds were using, and to the similar places they could move to next.
5. A return check. A follow-up visit confirms that nothing has been pulled loose.

Under solar panels

The fix described in the KTNV report, and the one the manual’s ranking points to, is exclusion: wire mesh around the edge of the array so that birds cannot get beneath it. Ask the provider whether every side will be closed, how the mesh is attached to the panels, and whether that method is acceptable under the terms from your solar installer. Read those terms yourself before work starts.

On tile roofs

Ask how the crew moves on a tile roof and who pays for any tile broken during the work. Ask which openings will be closed, with what, and how the roof will still drain afterward.

On ledges, patio covers and commercial buildings

The manual names netting, spikes and exclosures as the hardware for these places. The Health District’s public accommodation regulations name bird netting as a control measure at access doors, and require the exterior openings of hotels and motels to be protected against pests.

What pigeon control costs

Exterminator Vegas sets no prices, and we did not find a public cost guide that publishes a figure for pigeon exclusion in Las Vegas, so we are not printing one. What can be said is what to ask about when you compare quotes.

• The length of the array edge. More panels means more mesh.
• Roof height and pitch. Two stories and steep tile take more time and safety equipment.
• The amount of cleanup. Ask how much debris the inspection found.
• How many places need closing. Eaves, valleys, rooftop units and patio covers are each a separate task.
• Bird removal. Whether nests, eggs or young are present, and whether trapping is proposed.
• Access. Whether a lift is required, and whether a solar company has to lift panels so the roof beneath can be cleaned.

Ask for cleanup and exclusion to be priced as separate lines, and ask what the price includes if birds get past the barrier in the first months.

Associations, rentals and shared roofs

Exclusion hardware can be seen from the street. If your home is in a homeowners association, check its rules on exterior changes before netting or spikes go up, and ask the provider for a description or photo of the finished look to submit.

In townhomes and condominiums the roof may be common property, and pigeons do not respect the line between units. A fix on one section can move the birds along the building. If you rent, the roof is the owner’s to alter. In both cases the first call is to the association or the landlord, with photos of what you are seeing.

Which rules apply at your address

The feeding rule that covers your street depends on the jurisdiction, and a Las Vegas mailing address does not settle it. Downtown, Centennial Hills, The Lakes, Peccole Ranch and most of Summerlin are in the city of Las Vegas, where the municipal code section applies. Paradise, Spring Valley, Enterprise, Sunrise Manor and Winchester are unincorporated Clark County, where the county section applies. KSNV’s report on the county vote used a Spring Valley neighborhood as its example. Henderson and North Las Vegas are separate cities with sections of their own: Henderson Municipal Code 7.08.040 and North Las Vegas Municipal Code 6.11.010.

The state licensing rules described above are the same in all of them.

What you can do yourself

• Stop all feeding, and bring pet food indoors. Both codes cover food intended for wild pigeons, and seed scattered for other birds feeds pigeons too.
• Keep trash in covered cans and pick up fallen fruit.
• Remove standing water where you can, and fix dripping hose bibs.
• Note where the birds land, where they go under cover, and at what times of day. Photos from the ground help.
• Stay off the roof. Photos from the ground are enough for a first conversation.
• Do not sweep or blow dry droppings. The CDC says large amounts should be left to professional cleanup.
• Talk to the neighbors. A shared problem is easier to solve along a whole row of roofs than one house at a time.

Questions to ask a pigeon control provider

• Do you use hardware only, or any chemical product? If any chemical, what is your Nevada Department of Agriculture license number?
• Can I see your business license and current proof of insurance for roof work?
• How do you attach mesh to solar panels, and will it affect the panel terms?
• Do you clear nests and clean beneath the panels before sealing?
• How do you handle droppings safely?
• Who pays for tiles broken during the work?
• What is included if birds get in again?
• Can you show me a finished job nearby?

For rats, roaches and other pests, see the general guide to hiring an exterminator in Las Vegas.

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