A failure to look upward when parking by the river at a favourite roost for local pelicans has left a Port Macquarie man red-faced and his car disgraced.

The likely suspects, but bats and lorikeets are also among the top five culprits. ( Supplied )

The owner of the car parked by the foreshore and subsequently totally caked in pelican droppings, Dave Lazarus, said it would be fair to say that he should have known better.

He said he was well aware of the pelicans, and actually warns people against parking in certain spots.

"I only live across the road so I didn't worry about moving my car," Mr Lazarus said.

"I was just parked there for a-couple-of-minutes sort of thing, and it ended up there staying there for two days.

"I got a call from a mate of mine and he said 'go and have a look at your car', which I did, and I tell you what it's a beauty!"

Some people seemed to gain a level of satisfaction in laughing at others' misfortune.

The lighting pole is similar to thousands by the seaside across the country, and attracts the same issue. ( Facebook: Eva Spannari )

"The funny thing is as I was getting into the car a lady came to me and said 'you're all over the ABC'," he said, referring to the poor car's growing infamy being highlighted in a social media post.

Then when Mr Lazarus was driving to the carwash he said a woman at a set of red lights wound the window down and said "you're famous".

"I'm very community-minded to tell people about it," he said.

Bat poo is worse

The franchise owner of Waves Detail Pro on the NSW mid-north coast, Michael Rowsthorne, said that whenever possible do not park under trees or light posts.

"If you do get any animal droppings on the paint surface of your vehicle you should always try and wash it off as quick as possible," he said.

"It eats through the clear coat, which is actually a kind of a protective coating."

Once it gets to the base coat, Mr Rowsthorne said panels would have to be repainted.

"It generally leaves a ring mark around where the actual dropping has splattered on the panel which is actually a difference in the level of the clear coat, which is what you can see. It's quite hard to get out," he said.

"If you leave something for more than a week you're probably looking at minor damage."

Mr Lazarus said it took him about thirty minutes of "good hard scrubbing, but it seems alright".

"I have heard that pelican poop can give your car a bit of damage, but I think I got it in time," he said.

Mr Lazarus posted a picture of the newly-cleaned car to allay the fears of residents. ( Supplied )

And bat droppings do more damage, quicker.

Mr Rowsthorne said bats account for about 40 jobs a year.

"Bat poo's quite acidic so it doesn't take that long to damage the paint surface on the cars," he said.

"I guess because of the fruit that they eat, or their diet. The acid comes through in their droppings and it eats through quite quickly."

And it's not just animals …

Mr Rowsthorne said pelicans are big birds and do extensive damage, but more frequently it is smaller birds which cause problems.

"Lorikeets, they're probably a pretty bad one because their droppings are quite liquidy and spread quite a fair bit over the car," he said.

But he said he gets more business from cars hit by tree sap which also eats into the clear coat if left too long.

"Eucalyptus mainly. You've got your pines as well that leach out the sap," he said.

"You get that same ring in the paint surface once it's washed."

Mr Rowsthorne said it was probably best to use hot water to remove tree sap.