Suffolk County Bird Control People with pigeon problems do seem temporary success when first introducing sound deterrents, but buying a machine that emits a high-pitched sound is a waste of money. Pigeons do hear, but they actually hear a smaller sound range when compared to people. They do, however, have better sound recognition abilities, meaning of the sounds they hear, they are able to disseminate what those sounds are from. So, if you can't hear the high-pitched sound coming from that fancy machine you purchased, chances are a pigeon isn't going to hear it either. Getting rid of pigeons usually takes a physical change of some sort rather than the use of sound or light deterrents. Pigeons have to be excluded from an area or trapped and removed. Even if they do respond to a sound machine, once they realize there is no immediate danger, they won't react fearfully to the noise.