What are those small black and white birds we have in the UK?

aliasojo

And do they fly off to warmer climes?

We have 2 nests under the eaves of our roof and I want to knock them down to disuade birds from using them again. They are right outside 2 of the kids windows and the noise from the nests was unbelievable when the babies hatched.

They also poop everywhere, my walls have black and brown streaks down them.

I don't want to be cruel in any way, I wouldn't try to remove the nests if they were still being used but I dont know if the birds have gone or not since the babies got bigger.



I have vague memories of thinking and maybe asking the same thing last year, but my memory is really really bad.......:o



Any suggestions from preventing them building new nests again next year? We seem to always get them but the neighbours don't for some reason.

ekkygirl

I had to block the eaves on my house a couple of years ago because of this problem. It was funny the see the confusion of the birds when they came back the following year, Bless them.

On my neighbours house they stuck the nest to the actual wall, Very clever I thought!!

MrsTinks

Do you mean Swallows? Or Martins?
Both are migratory birds but I would recommend not moving the nests till November to be certain. Yes they will return next year and more than likely try and build in the same spot again even if you remove their nest.

kiwifruit_2

Try this website http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/ its the RSPB site and to the right of the page there is a 'button' to click that will help you identify any bird......its fun too lol

foreign_correspondent

could also be pied wagtails - you really do need to identify the bird first - and some species are protected, so you may not be able to tamper with their nests.

MrsTinks

Even if they are not protected you could put up nesting boxes to encourage them to nest there instead of your house but still providing them with a nice safe place to nest

aliasojo

Good site kiwifruit, thanks. As far as I can make out, it's definately not a swallow or a martin, I think it might be a pied wagtail as fc suggests (although I did think the tail was shorter on the ones I saw)...if so, that would fit in with the area as we live in the north of Scotland and they leave here in Winter. Yay!

I'll try to watch more closely to see if they have moved on and I'll leave the nests for the time being. As ekkygirl mentioned above, the nests are stuck to the wall. Nature is quite clever really.

However, I'm quite fed up so they do need to move along now.

Good idea about the nesting boxes MrsTine....quite like that thought, but the only place they could go is on the shed and I dont think that would be high enough for them to want to use. Wonder if I could get some sort of high pole affair or something, but even then that might be too open for them. Mmm will think about that one.

ceebeeby

I love all animals, including birds, but like you alias we've had this problem before, nest in a child's window, but worse it was above the back door step and the mess was alarmingly disgusting (I cannot emphasise enough how awful it was)!

We waited until we were absolutely sure the birds and their chicks had flown the nest for the winter - you must do this, otherwise, not only is it cruel, it's also illegal. We knocked the nest down, then scrubbed the area with a bleach mixture.

When the birds came back the following spring, we knocked it down as they were making it, so that the nest was never more than marginally started. We only did this twice, and they got the message and moved to the other window eave, where they were very very welcome.

They didn't seem unduly affected to be honest, and still came back the following year again!

It's a matter of timing though to make sure you knock down when empty, and destroy before it gets put up.

I'm not sure what the official guidance is, but this worked.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

House Martin nests by the sound of it. Small, black wings, white belly, slightly forked tail, squeaking sound, eating mosquitoes while riding the thermals, swooping and diving all summer?

If I could persuade you to leave them there, I would, because these tiny birds fly thousands of miles every year, avoiding French, Maltese and other countries' hunters who think killing tiny birds is sport or makes them a delicacy, and then come all the way back to breed here for summer.

They are under phenomenal pressure and I would happily deal with the mucky side of wildlife if I were blessed with them. I've had starlings nesting in the wall and their noise goes on for months rather than weeks. It's just a short time when you are most likely to be waking early anyway, and the birds have an incredible story.

Your home is obviously most auspicious for them, as they have particular needs for warmth, sun, access to mud and the like.

If you contact the RSPB they wil be able to tell you the legal position on destroying their nests. But please, please reconsider if you can.

foreign_correspondent

aliasojo wrote: »

I'll try to watch more closely to see if they have moved on and I'll leave the nests for the time being. As ekkygirl mentioned above, the nests are stuck to the wall. .

probably not a pied wagtail then, I am pretty sure they do not make those sorts of nests

edited to say - I completely agree with the above poster, and feel lucky they had chosen my house. My kid brother does bat surveys etc for a living and I recently asked him how I could get bats to be able to use my roof space!

suki1964

They are swallows or swifts and really a bit of bird poo is a small price to pay to have the pleasure of these birds nesting in your eves.

We have two nests every year and a hell of a mess but when they fly away we get the karcher out and clean up - no problems.

Knocking the nest down wont stop them rebuilding next year. Not allowing them back to nest can cause them not to mate that year