Has anyone ever used golf balls to deter birds from building nests in hanging baskets?

I ran across a comment today where someone says golf balls has been successful at deterring birds from building nests in their hanging baskets because the birds think there is already an owner residing in the basket.
If you haven’t tried this method before and you have another way to deter birds that don’t involve killing them or harming them or not hanging baskets, please let me know.