How to stop Swallows from building?

MidlandsM

I'm like birds and nature in general so the irony of my problem annoys me.:o

I have a back door on the house and its the one thats used all the time. Directly and HIGH above, swallows keep trying to build in the eve. And if they suceed, I'll be SHAT upon when I'm coming and going into the house, you know the score:p

So, I've knocked down their nests 3 time so far, but they keep coming back and you got to hand it to them, they work harder and faster at building a new nest.

I just want to stop them, to get them to go elsewhere to build and roost:)

Help? Thoughts? Ideas?

Thanks.

ART6

Hang an old CD disk on a piece of string under the eaves. Scares 'em off so I'm told. Alternatively buy an imitiation hawk from a garden centre and fix it to the wall. No birds anywhere then;)

Alun

Build a porch

meercat

these swallows travel from africa every summer and return to the same nest.the fledgelings also return to the same area.give them a break and put up with a little inconvenience.thanks

Lando Griffin

Heard that if you spread vaslene on the foundations they will not build. Dont know if its true or what the genius who discovered it was at with the vaslene up there. Worth a shot though

jill_valentine

If you affix a plastic bag - carefully now, don't want it getting lose and becoming litter - to the point they always build on, it'll flap in the wind and scare 'em off. It looks stupid, but just take it down after nesting season.

dunsandin

They are semi-endangered, and are tough little battlers, and I feckin hate people who knock down their nests. They keep down the population of flies and other pest insects, and are a part of nature. How would you feel if I toddled around with my track machine and knocked your house just as you finished laying the laminate and were about to move your wife and kids in? Walk faster on your way out. There is too much neat and tidy syndrome, and nature is not neat and tidy. Be glad you get to offer them a place to settle. Its also very unlucky to mess with them, karma and all that.

Victor

Move the nest to one side of the door.

Mothman

Same predicament in that I have a nest over a door.

I attached a board between top of door and nest.

I kept my Swallows and I kept my head and ground clean and to complete the bargain, I got manure for the flowerbed.
Happy days

Feargal as Luimneach

meercat wrote: »

these swallows travel from africa every summer and return to the same nest.the fledgelings also return to the same area.give them a break and put up with a little inconvenience.thanks

x2

Macca3000

Please don't knock the nest now. They most likely have laid eggs.

The owner of a creche in town (which will remain nameless) decided to knock the nest off the eves of her shed last week and 4 eggs went splat. Nice message to be sending the older kids :mad:

bandit197

Check and see if their planning permission is in order





No seriously, try and leave them at it. I have two pairs nesting on the house now, one nest on each gable. Its amazing how they can build their nests so fast and so well.

jill_valentine

Yeah, if they've nested at this stage, leave them too it, but next year, stick up the plastic bags like I say. It works.

User Friendly

i saw them at the tipp/cork game yesterday,flying in the tunnels,whizzing through the crowds to their nests. fantastic birds.

i would be strongly against breaking up their nests.would it be too much to buy a wee birdhouse for them? thanks.

jill_valentine

Thing is, I've never known of them to nest in a birdhouse. They have an uncanny knack of finding the least convenient place possible to build and then doing it every year.

Xcellor

Have three nests on my house. THey don't pay rent but they do good in keeping the flies/mosquitos away during the summer. Most of the homes in my neighbourhood have one or two nests. Apart from sh*te that is easily washed away they are harmless.

MidlandsM

Thanks for all the comments and the melodramatics.
Re; knocking down the nests - Yes, I've done it 3 times but never left it too late for them to lay eggs, I knocked the nests down in "mid" build so as to speak - I was conscious of them getting finished and laying the eggs - if they did get that far, i'd leave them be (I'm not a totally heartless fecker you know).

I have them building year on year in out houses, and I'm happy to leave them be - I do admire them (and nature in general)
So, I'll put up a deterent to stop them building in this spot over my door - so they have to go off andf build elsewhere, and as its early in their season, they get one built elsewhere and a family reared.

Merch

I think it is illegal to knock them down when they are nesting, once they have left I think its ok.

I knocked one off myself after they left (house martins) I really would have liked to have left them be if it was somewhere else on my eaves except it was over my bedroom window, and loads of (weird crawling)little insects were falling in (live ones) had to keep the window closed.
No harm to knock it after they go, like cleaning out a nest box, clears out the parasites and insects.
Unfortunately they didnt come back

MidlandsM

Merch wrote: »

I think it is illegal to knock them down when they are nesting, once they have left I think its ok.

Source?

Merch

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Advice/FAQ/GardenBirdFAQ/tabid/368/Default.aspx

House Martins are nesting on my house and their droppings are making a mess. What can I do?

It is illegal to remove the nests while they are in use or to prevent the parents reaching their eggs or young. Anyway, if you remove the nest before this stage the House Martins will almost certainly build another. The simplest solution, therefore, is to fix a removable wooden shelf 250mm wide about two metres below the nest. This should catch most of the droppings.

Should the old nest be removed when the nesting season is over?

Yes. The reason is that the nest material will possibly be infested by fleas, the larvae of which can over-winter and cause a serious infestation of the following year’s brood. Wear rubber gloves when removing the nest material, then pour boiling water into the box to kill any hidden parasites that may remain. Pyrethrum powder is probably the safest insecticide but should not be used unless thought absolutely necessary, in extreme cases. Birds will often use the nestbox for roosting outside the breeding season, so it is a good idea to clean out old nest material at the end of summer.

happy?

MidlandsM

Thanks, good, the Swallow police can do nothing then.

Merch

MidlandsM wrote: »

Thanks, good, the Swallow police can do nothing then.

Police?? in fact I haven't seen any since a few years ago

youtheman

You could always make sure your 'puddy tat' has handy access to the 'building site'. Sorted !. Any objections, just claim 'it's nature's way of dealing with the problem'.

Nonmonotonic

How? By providing a rope ladder? Swallows tend to nest fairly high up so your 'natural' solution may prove difficult.

MidlandsM

I could throw the cat up at the nest.......

Is there a law against Cat Throwing?

Victor

youtheman wrote: »

You could always make sure your 'puddy tat' has handy access to the 'building site'. Sorted !. Any objections, just claim 'it's nature's way of dealing with the problem'.

Cats are not part of nature in the Irish context.

michael999999

ill lend you my pellet gun

MidlandsM

michael999999 wrote: »

ill lend you my pellet gun

naaaaaaa, no need for that kind of suggestion.
Read back the whole thread and note that I'm not out to hurt these lovely creatures.:)
I just don't want to be SHAT on daily;)

jill_valentine

MidlandsM wrote: »

Is there a law against Cat Throwing?

I'm pretty sure it's a sport in Scotland.

MidlandsM

jill_valentine wrote: »

I'm pretty sure it's a sport in Scotland.

really?:pac:

gman2k

Run a length of fishing line tied between screws either end about three inches below your soffit.
They won't be able to land or access the soffit/wall junction with the near invisible fishing line in place. No harm done to birds with this solution.

PS, I had swallows nesting on my house last year, they had young 'uns in the nest before I spotted it, so I left them alone. They destroyed the side of the house however with droppings, and when they left there was a dead swallow there also!
Needless to say, they didn't get free accommodation from me this year!