WO2021115544A1

WO2021115544A1 - Composition for preventing birds or insects from residing on an object or a surface

Info

Publication number: WO2021115544A1
Application number: PCT/DK2020/050361
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jens Haugaard; Annette Foged HAUGAARD
Original assignee: Byebyebirds Aps
Priority date: 2019-12-13
Filing date: 2020-12-14
Publication date: 2021-06-17

Abstract

A bird cleaner is first applied to clean the surface from bird excrements, before applying bird scare that has a UV reflector incorporated, which contribute to a flammable looking surface in the UV vision bird has and scares away birds, such as pigeons. Compared to other and similar products, this invention differs by being environmentally friendly. Also, by using a bird cleaner before applying bird scare, which cleans and disinfects the surface before applying bird scare, which keeps birds away from the sur- face.

Description

COMPOSITION FOR PREVENTING BIRDS OR INSECTS FROM RESIDING ON AN OBJECT OR A SURFACE

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns a 2 in 1 product. A bird cleaner and a bird scare. The bird cleaner is applied to the surface first and cleans the surface, before adding bird scare.

Background of the Invention

It is a well known problem that in particular birds are considered a nuisance in many situations - particularly in urban areas where their nests creates noise, and their bird droppings are unpleasant to have on windows, windowsills, benches, sidewalks, cars etc. For this reason, several measures are used in order to avoid birds nesting and resting in some of these locations. It is well known to establish spikes in windowsills, cornices etc. on buildings, adhere birds of prey profiles to windows, fly bird of prey look-alike kites, arrange plastic owls on terraces etc in order to scare birds away. In many instances these measures are effective but they have a common drawback in that they are clearly visible, and as such may be considered to disfigure the architecture, hamper the view or in other manners be undesirable - but acceptable in lieu of measures.

With respect to insects such as for example flies, bees/homets, ants and spiders these insects may lodge or create nests, lay eggs or the like which is considered undesired. In order to counter this, it is known to use toxins to kill/exterminate the insects. The toxins are not environmentally desirable, and as such causes other problems.

The present invention addresses these problems by providing a composition for pre venting birds or insects from residing on an object or a surface, comprising a 10 to 20 mass% binder, a 1-5 mass% pigment, and the balance is being water, characterized in that the pigment is an optical brightener, selected from optical brightening agents (OBAs), fluorescent brightening agents (FBAs), or fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs), absorbing light in the shorter wavelength region of the electromagnetic spec trum and re-emitting light in the longer wavelength region by fluorescence. The invention also provides a method for preventing birds or insects from residing on an object or a surface using the composition above where said composition is applied at the objects or surfaces from which birds or insects should be kept away by using a brush, a roll, an aerosol or a trigger sprayer; most preferably, said composition is applied by a trigger sprayer.

Further advantageous embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims.

The bird scare (the composition), scares birds, such as pigeons, and various insects from landing on the surface. The bird cleaner (the cleaning composition) makes the bird scare last longer. The bird scare uses an optical brightener, that reflects light from the surface, which hinders the birds from landing. Typically, the optical brightener will comprise an UV reflector.

The modified coating is quick and easy to apply to the surface. The invention uses the knowledge that birds and insects see ultraviolet light, and the bird scare will therefore appear like fire to them.

The invented coating is primarily used on application with a hard surface, such as roofs on buildings, chimneys, posts, terraces, tiles benches and more, but can also be used in application such as fields, where farmers have a problem with birds eating and destroy ing their crops.

A mixture of a binder and UV reflector that are incorporated into a solvent contribute with a flammable looking surface, that scares away birds, such as pigeons.

Birds’ and insects’ sense of sight

The visual system of birds is highly developed and have a tetrachromatic vision, mean ing that they can see ultraviolet light (UV). Typically, humans have visual perception of light wavelengths from 450 nm to approx. 700 nm, whereas birds and a number of insects also may see ultraviolet wavelengths down to approx. 300 nm which are invisi ble to the human eye. Birds see UV, because their eyes possess cone cells as well as green, red and blue ones. Birds use their vision when looking for a mate or food. The feathers on the birds reflect ultraviolet patches, that helps the birds distinguish between sexes that may appear alike to the human eye. Some birds prey by detecting UV reflect ing urine trail marks left on the ground by for example rodents. Pigeons uses their UV vision to find their usual residence, where they normally sit most of the day or the place they use as a toilet, or to find their nests. Likewise, for insects they are able to see/perceive light at much shorter wavelengths than humans.

Ultraviolet li ht (UV - Li ht) Ultraviolet (UV) is electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 100 nm to 400 nm, which is shorter than visible light humans can see, and longer than X-rays. UV is the light that is present in the sunlight and contributes with around 10% of the total electro magnetic radiation. The short-wave lengths of UV-light, 100-280 nm, damages DNA and sterilizes surfaces it hits. It is known as sunburns to humans. UV-light is also re- sponsible of the formation of bone-strengthening, known as vitamin D, to most verte brates, which includes humans. Natural daylight also comprises this part of the wave length spectre, although humans cannot see/perceive this light/wavelength.

Tetrachromacy When possessing a tetrachromatic vision, four independent channels for convoying col our information or four types of cone cell is found in the eye, see Figure 1. At tetrachro macy, the bird contains four types of higher-intensity light receptor called cone cells. This means that birds can see wavelengths, within the UV-spectra, that are beyond the human eye, and distinguish between colours, see Figure 1.

Recognized product

The composition according to the present invention is suitable for worldwide installa tion on sites such as Paddington and King’s Cross stations in London, Glasgow City Chambers, Volkswagen and Airbus plants in Germany and Chateau de Chambord and Lutyens’ Thiepval Memorial in France. The invention will make the birds desert their habitat completely, even a habitat that they have been using for years. In the case of insects these will not build burrows or remain on the objects or surfaces. For example, bees react to the composition in much the same manner as birds, in that they will avoid such surfaces or objects treated with the composition according to the present invention. The same is true for a number of different species of spiders. One advantage of the composition according to the present invention is that the coating is invisible from the naked eye, and hereby preserves the aesthetic appearance of the building, terrace or whatever surface the composition according to the present invention is applied, while keeping it clean from birds and insects. Furthermore, the composition according to the present invention can both be used inside and outside, vertically and horizontally, with out causing damage to the surface and without running.

The composition according to the invention and the influence of weather The composition according to the present invention is not affected by extremes such as temperatures, wind, rain, or snow. The light reflecting properties of the composition according to the present invention will last a season even with extreme weather. How ever, it is recommended that on surfaces exposed to direct sunlight, the suns’ rays may/will shorten the effective period in which the composition is effective. Therefore, such surfaces should be re-treated every 3-4 months to maintain maximum effect.

To test the present invention a jetty was treated. The jetty is located projecting out into a saltwater fjord in Southern Denmark (Kolding Fjord), and is usually crowded with seabirds, particularly seagulls. The jetty was first pressure washed, thereafter treated with the cleaning composition. After letting the j etty dry, the treatment composition was applied, by means of a common weed sprayer. The actual composition of the treatment liquid was:

Binder (Resydrol AY 586/42) Cas no.: 63148-69-6 Weight: 0,2 % UV reflector (Endorsing INK) Cas no.: 16470-24-9: weight 0,3 %

And the rest weight 99,5% Water

After four months (March through June) there were significantly less (or no birds) rest ing on the jetty, and it was not necessary to clean bird dropping off the jetty during that period.

A further test was carried out during the same time. A windowsill on a third-floor apart ment in the centre of the city was treated in a similar manner as the jetty described above. The windowsill was cleaned, cleaned with the cleaning composition and finally treated with a composition according to the invention, consisting of:

Binder (Resydrol AY 586/42) Cas no.: 63148-69-6 Weight: 0,4 %

A hydrotrop (C9-C11, CAS no, 68439-46-3) weight 0,8%

UV reflector (Endorsing INK) Cas no.: 16470-24-9: weight 4%

And the rest weight 94,8% Water. The composition was applied using a traditional painting brush. Also, as was the case with the jetty described above, no birds or insects were noticed during the four months test period.

The cleaning composition and the composition according to the invention are further more environmentally friendly, which is why they also can be used on farmers’ fields.

Description of the Invention

The binder and the UV reflector are both dissolved in water and can be applied on a surface by painting it on or otherwise spread or distributed on the surface. The invention lasts a whole season, and keeps away birds without harming them, by altering their behaviour, instead of acting as a physical barrier. Bird cleaner is first applied, and then bird scare.

Example 1 - Cleaning composition according to the invention: a. Quaternary ammonium compounds Weight: 1-5% b. Water Cas no.: 7732-18-5 Up to 100%

Example 2 - The composition according to the present invention: c. Water Cas no.: 7732-18-5 Up to 100% d. Binder (Resydrol AY 586/42) Cas no.: 63148-69-6 Weight: 0,1-15 % e. UV reflector (Endorsing INK) Cas no.: 16470-24-9 Up to 5%

The bird cleaner and bird scare are ready to use after being mixed. The names of the binder and UV reflector is examples, and it is not necessary used in the final Bird scare.

Example 3

The ingredients according to example 2 with the addition of 1 weight% hydrotrope and a corresponding water content reduction, where the hydrotrope for example is selected from:

(C9-C11) Alkylalkohol, ethoxyleret, cas nr.: 68439-46-3 - poly(oxy-l,2-ethanediyl),.alpha.-(2-propylheptyl)-. omega. -hydroxy-, cas nr. 160875-66-1 A hydrotrope is a compound that solubilizes hydrophobic compounds in aqueous solu tions by means other than micellar solubilization. Typically, hydrotropes consist of a hydrophilic part and a hydrophobic part (similar to surfactants), but the hydrophobic part is generally too small to cause spontaneous self-aggregation.

Further optical brighteners, which are suitable with the present invention, may be se lected from: 4,4'-bis[2-(2-methoxyphenyl)ethenyl]-r-biphenyl, cas nr: 40470-68-6 Derivative of stilbene bistriazine acid, cas nr: 16470-24-9 A transparent UV ink, cas nr.: 1188327-62-9 A UV Solvent Ink, cas nr: 2361133-96-0 UV Ink Clear Liquid, solvent-free, cas nr: 2135845-59-7 An acrylic polymer ink, cas nr: 1584154-51-7

Further binders, which are suitable, may be selected from:

Alkyd resins, cas nr: 63148-69-6 Alkyd resins, acrylic, cas nr: 66587-51-7

Alkyd resins, soybean oil, cas nr: 308061-84-9 Alkyd resins, castor oil-based, cas nr: 308061-63-4 Alkyd resins, fatty acid-based, cas nr: 308061-66-7 Alkyd resins, linseed oil-based, cas nr: 308061-70-3 Alkyd resins, long-oil, cas nr: 308061-71-4

In this context it shall be noted that although several substantially generic materi als/compounds have been listed above, any optical brightener suitable to be dissolved in an aqueous solution may be used with the present invention. The “support” com- pounds, such as binder and hydrotropes, are provided to provide better use characteris tics and longer lasting treatment to the invention. Consequently, other binders may be contemplated when these are compatible with the other ingredients. Description of the Drawing

Figure 1: The four types of colour in a bird’s cone cells that are extended to the range of colour vision on the UV-light spectrum. In fig. 1 the reference numbers refer to the various colours, such that 1 is light grey, 2 is blue, 3 is green and 4 is red.

Claims

1. A composition for preventing birds or insects from residing on an object or a surface, comprising 0,1 to 15 mass% binder, a 0,3-5 mass% pigment, and the balance is being water, characterized in that the pigment is an optical bright- ener, selected from optical brightening agents (OB As), fluorescent brightening agents (FBAs), or fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs), absorbing light in the shorter wavelength region of the electromagnetic spectrum and re-emitting light in the longer wavelength region by fluorescence.

2. The composition according to claim 1, characterized in that the optical bright- ener is absorbing in UV region and re-emitting the light with wavelengths is the specter 100 to 400 nm, where the re-emitted light is invisible to humans but visible to birds or insects.

3. The composition according to any of the preceding claims, where the binder is selected from one or more water-soluble acrylics or alkyds.

4. The composition according to claim 1 further comprising a cleaning composi tion suitable to be applied to the object or surface prior to the composition for preventing birds or insects from residing on an object or a surface, where said cleaning composition comprises 2-5% of quaternary ammonium compounds and the balance is being water.

5. The composition according to claim 1 comprising the following compounds: a. Binder (Resydrol AY 586/42) Cas no. : 63148-69-6 Weight%: 10-20% b. UV reflector (Endorsing INK) Cas no.: 16470-24-9 Up to 5% c. Water Cas no.: 7732-18-5 Up to 100%.

6. The composition of claim lwherein the optical brightener may be a UV reflec tor selected among:

4,4'-bis[2-(2-methoxyphenyl)ethenyl]-T-biphenyl, cas nr: 40470-68-6; Derivative of stilbene bistriazine acid, cas nr: 16470-24-9;

A transparent UV ink, cas nr.: 1188327-62-9;

A UV Solvent Ink, cas nr: 2361133-96-0; UV Ink Clear Liquid, solvent-free, cas nr: 2135845-59-7;

An acrylic polymer ink, cas nr: 1584154-51-7.

7. The composition according to claim 1 wherein the binder is selected among:

Alkyd resins, cas nr: 63148-69-6;

Alkyd resins, acrylic, cas nr: 66587-51-7;

Alkyd resins, soybean oil, cas nr: 308061-84-9;

Alkyd resins, castor oil-based, cas nr: 308061-63-4;

Alkyd resins, fatty acid-based, cas nr: 308061-66-7;

Alkyd resins, linseed oil-based, cas nr: 308061-70-3;

Alkyd resins, long-oil, cas nr: 308061-71-4;

8. The composition according to any preceding claim where the composition fur ther comprises 0,5 to 3 weight % of a hydrotrope selected among:

- (C9-C11) Alkylalkohol, ethoxyleret, cas nr.: 68439-46-3;

- poly(oxy-l,2-ethanediyl), alpha.-(2-propylheptyl)-. omega. -hydroxy-, cas nr. 160875-66-1; where the water content is reduced correspondingly.

9. A method for preventing birds or insects from residing on an object or a sur face, using the composition according to any of the preceding claims, charac terized in that said composition is applied at the objects or surfaces from which birds or insects should be kept away by using a brush, a roll, an aerosol or a trigger sprayer; most preferably, said composition is applied by a trigger sprayer.

10. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the composition is ap plied to the surfaces in rounded patterns, circular or resembling the eyes of the predators praying on birds.

11. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that it further comprises an object cleaning or a surface cleaning step using a cleaning composition prior to application of the composition for preventing birds from residing on the re spective object or surface.

12. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the cleaning composi- tion used in the cleaning step comprises 1-5% of quaternary ammonium com pounds and balance is being water.

13. The use of the composition according to any of claims 1-3 or 5 or the method according to any of claims 6-9, characterized in that the objects or the surfaces where the composition for preventing birds or insects residence is applied to are hard solid objects or surfaces, for example, selected from, but not restricted to, roofs on buildings, chimneys, posts, terraces, tiles, benches.

14. The use of the composition according to any of claims 1-3 or 5 or the method according to any of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the object or the surface where the composition for preventing birds or insects residence is applied to, is an agricultural field, thus protecting the agricultural produce from birds eat ing or destroying it.