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

aliasojo

suki1964 wrote: »

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.

Sorry, but I disagree with you.

As in ceebeebies case, one of the nests is directly above our door and we have/had to scrub the steps every day to remove the poop. It really is disgusting to see the mess on the wall down the side of the door and our external security light is absolutely covered in the stuff.

My youngest used to sit on the door step whilst I was working in the kitchen but she can't do that since the nest appeared.

I'm all for living in harmony with nature, but that shouldn't be at the expense of cleanliness and the ability to live as you wish.

Btw, they are definately not swallows or swifts. They are smaller than those.

Read this on the RSPB site......

While most people welcome house martins, the birds can occasionally be a problem, for instance if a nest is above a door. These conflict areas can be isolated by closing in the triangle under the eaves where the nests are built with a piece of wood, fine mesh chicken wire or parallel wires stretching from the outer edge of the soffit board to c.15cm down the wall.

Still not convinced they are martins mind you but the advice is useful nonetheless.

chardonnay_2

is it a magpie?

MrsTinks

Think they'd know if it was a magpie You don't miss a bird up to half a metre from beak to tail tip hopping round

Savvy_Sue

I don't think magpies nest under the eves either ...

MrsTinks

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I don't think magpies nest under the eves either ...

Well... it'd sure be fun to watch them try!! Oh can you imagine waking up to one of them flying past your window trying to get to it's nest! If it were me you'd hear the worlds loudest scream!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

The cat was dozing in the mini greenhouse this morning when a heron decided to take a closer flightpath. She fell off the shelf in shock!

I also get a sparrowhawk plucking her pigeon dinners on my chimneystack quite often as we are at the highest point of the hill, overlooking the woods. That's interesting when you get showered in tiny white feathers.

Actually, we get a lot of birds here, most of which seem to think my roof/guttering is an ideal spot for rummaging for bugs, feeding, perching, socialising and generally confusing the cats. But we don't get anyone trying to nest. It's probably like trying to make a home in Sainsbury's for them!