Bird Hawk Flying Kite with Pole Crops Farm Protector Bird Scarer Flying Kite with 4m Pole-Style A

We were plagued with birds popping all over our pool and deck this year. Our whole neighborhood was having problems, which had never happened before. We installed this - it seemed like a goofy idea, but we were desperate. It worked! All of our neighbors still have problems, but we haven't had any since the day we put it up. Definitely worth the money!If I have any complaint, it would be that the swivel on the end of the pole isn't very effective. We have to "unwind" it off the pole every couple days. We shortened the strung which had helped a lot.

The kite flies on the slightest breeze. I like the movement and sound. Predator birds always attack from above. That’s why birds are terrified of any movement above them. That’s what makes this kite so effective. If birds aren’t flying when you set it up they are often afraid to fly away and they just sit there.I’ve had problems keeping the kite up. The rod must be attached or the kite takes off with it. Also the string was too long, I had to cut about 2 feet off of it. The other problem is it’s only shipped with one swivel. You have to have a swivel at both ends of the string. The string that comes with it isn’t strong enough, it breaks easily. I replaced it with 550 nylon cord. I have it mounted in my front yard to keep the birds from doing their dirty business on my vehicles.

I purchased this to keep the blue jays out of my home orchard and vineyard. This year I put up this hawk kite in my orchard when my cherries were ripening. So far, I have lost maybe a dozen cherries from two trees. The jays sit up on the power lines nearby and look disappointed. I have just ordered another bird kite to put near my hazelnut and walnut trees, since the first kite will need to stay in the orchard to protect other fruits ripening there.I had to trouble shoot it for a few days to get it to work effectively in all kinds of wind and in still air. Where I live it is generally calm in the mornings, but then can get very windy in the afternoons. So far, the kite, pole, and string are holding up.I found that getting it up high into the air allowed it to appear to be flying, even if it was just hanging from the pole in still air, and to not get hung up in the trees when it did get blown around (but to not contact the power lines just outside my fence).This is how I finally mounted it, and now have it working perfectly: I pounded a 5' long metal ½” conduit pipe into the ground so that 3' is above ground. Over that I slid a 10' long ¾” schedule 40 PVC pipe. The ground stake, to which the kite’s rod is attached, fits securely in the ¾” PVC. The ¾” PVC was too flexible, allowing the kite to dip into the tree tops and get caught, so I slipped a 6' long section of 1 ¼” PVC over the ¾” PVC to make it more rigid near the bottom. These are all set vertically, but the ¾” PVC is flexible near the top, as is the rod to which the kite is attached, and it all bends in the wind, and therefore the string does not get wrapped around the rod. The whole contraption raises the kite 23' into the air. I adjusted the length of the string so that it is about 5' long, short enough to keep it out of the trees and away from the power lines, but long enough to keep the kite "flying" over the trees in no wind.At first, I planned to take the kite down every few days, so the jays didn't habituate to it, but they returned as soon as I moved it, even though I put a scarecrow out there. I put the kite back and have not moved it in several weeks, and it is still working.I reduced my former 5 star review to 4 stars because the kite is fading significantly after 6 weeks of use. And also because the string provided becomes brittle in sunlight and breaks (it lasted about two months).UPDATE after 2 seasons of use: I purchased a second kite for use over my filbert and walnut trees. I had a biblical infestation of jays last year (possibly due to the commercial filbert grower nearby installing propane cannons to chase them away). Because the nuts were being eaten so early before ripening (still green), I left the kites up continuously for two months. The jays became habituated to the kites and stripped my trees clean before the nuts ripened.I am using both kites again this year. I put one up over my cherry trees and swapped it out for two scarecrows (which I made scarier by attaching upraised arms bearing pom-poms of flash tape), which worked well. I swapped them every few days. Now a kite is over my blueberry patch, which, because I have several varieties, ripen over a 10 week period. I periodically swap out the kite with the scarecrows and a dummy hawk on a post, and the jays seem to have left for the season.I am purchasing a kite-only without the pole to keep on standby. Both kites have faded significantly and one parked in a blackberry patch and was shredded when I pulled it out (still flies, just is deteriorating faster). It's cheaper than buying organic fruit.

Do not purchase if it is ever going to be wind. The string broke and the hawk flew away and can not be found. What a waste of money.

I bought this item a few months ago. Honestly, I thought it would last about a week in our yard. We have high winds all the time and nothing survives. But this thing? It's still going strong! And, we've noticed a reduction in hawks, which was why we bought it. It whips through the air all day long and I am thoroughly impressed!

Started out ok, but did not hold up to the Jersey shore winds. Top of second section of pole cracked, causing first pole section to fly away with kite. I epoxied it and that worked. Kite kept getting tangled around tip of pole. Untangled it. Shortened length of string but still kept tangelling. Conveniently, for the company, only 30 days on returns. With my attempts at getting this to work took me beyond this. Not a happy customer wasted $40.

Used to keep geese from crapping on our dock. Only thing we’ve found to keep them away. Works great!

These have been working great for short term - durability is questionable… but when it works it works just not in super sunny climates or high winds it gets shredded - I’ve protected many veggie gardens with them while they last -