does a bird nesting in my wall make all this mad stench??

nearly

i was hoping some bird lovers here can tell me...

we noticed birds nesting in our walls. there is literally a hole around some plastic pipes where bricks were removed (nice quality contracting here, mind). these birds made a home inside the cavity of the outer wall. they went pretty far in, because we can hear them scratching about.

recently... over the past two weeks, there has been a mad horrible stench, strongest in the rooms adjacent to the wall. it permeates the house. we tried closing the doors, and it was far worse, we tried opening windows, slightly better but damned cold. now i'm concerned as its not going away and i have 5 guests coming june bank holiday.

the landlord wants to remove the nest. i understand that this is a criminal offense!!! i don't want him to do it... but we need some relief from this.

first of all, i don't even know if it is the nest afterall...

the only correlation i have is the fact that there is increased activity in the nest (birds coming in an out) and the smell is only from around the nest.

would a nest make this much bad stink??

there origin of the smell is not in the toilet, nor in the plumbing. you can't smell it outside, only in the 3 rooms on that wall.

any ideas?

if it is the nest... when will we be able to close up shop there and plug that hole? when do birds stop roosting in a nest?

Rainbowsend

Do you know what birds they are? Are they small say sparrow or slightly bigger like a Starling? Starlings make a lot of mess especially when the young start to get bigger.
maybe one died in the nest and is de-composing? If the eggs have hatched then it should only be about three weeks before they fledge, maybe just in the nick of time before your guests arrive

meathstevie

If you want to keep the nest there ( if you can hack the stench ) wait until everything has fledged and close the gap. If not I suppose you could gather some information to find out if the birds in this case could be deemed to be a pest and the nest can be removed and the gap closed. Your local wildlife ranger would be your best point of contact for such advice.

jmkennedyie

Had House Sparrows nesting in eaves of a '70's house and there was no hint of smell. But maybe yours is timber framed and birds just on the other side of plasterboard.

Any idea what species? If Starlings (fairly hefty, noisy) http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/starling/ then apparently 3 weeks from chicks hatching to fledging (leaving the nest)... so depends when the increased activity began.

House Sparrows also common in houses, but smaller and can't imagine them producing much of a mess.

nearly

yeah! it's starlings thanks for the link.

yeah, they do sing alot, and that is why, at first we thought it was nice. oh what clever birds, we thought.

but now, the smell is a bit mad.

the nests were built before easter, but the crazy activity just started over the last week and a half, with the smell increasing over the past 5 days.

so from everyone's suggestions, we might be in the clear for the june bank holiday?

i'm curious thought, after they kick the babies out of the nest... they don't use it as a sumer home? no one will need to roost there?

Rainbowsend

nearly wrote: »

they don't use it as a sumer home? no one will need to roost there?

You will have to move quick.......once the babies have fledged as it is possible that the parents might move back in and start again....depending on the size and success of the current brood.

Kess73

Starlings tend to cause a fair stink. Those that said the best thing to do is to wait until the young leave the nest and then block the gap are pretty much spot on in terms of what to do imho.


What is of note though is that starlings are not protected by law in the same manner as most other birds.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Kess73 wrote: »

Starlings tend to cause a fair stink. Those that said the best thing to do is to wait until the young leave the nest and then block the gap are pretty much spot on in terms of what to do imho.


What is of note though is that starlings are not protected by law in the same manner as most other birds.

Agree fully on paragraph 1 but the second statement need clarification. While Stalings can be shot, as some crows can or may be trapped, their active nests may not be destroyed. They are as protected as most birds if most birds include Duck, Snipe, Geese, Crows, etc which can by some means be hunted or killed as pests, but laws still exist controlling this.

http://www.pestx.ie/starling.htm may give the OP a feel for the problem/solution.

nearly

ah wow! so it could be these stinky birds. i'm looking forward to 3 weeks from now. hopefully they fly out of the nest.

now to get my landlord here...

hm.. i'll have to add it to the list of things we need him to take care of :P