Birds Nesting In Roof

helphelphelphelp

I have just noticed birds going under some roof tiles on my house. I am assuming they have a nest here so will need to secure this so it doesnt happen again. However, I dont want to do anything until the nest is empty. Any idea when this normally happens as I would hate for the young birds to die if they are trapped inside.

Thanks

Bufger

Yes, usually around 1pm on a saturday they go shopping and then for a bite to eat.

Or you could just look, you know, with your eyes?!

shuck

Thanks for the helpful post Bufger :think:

First thing to do is find out which type of bird it is, then do some research and see when the nesting season is.

Hope that helps.

aliasojo

Bufger wrote: »

Yes, usually around 1pm on a saturday they go shopping and then for a bite to eat.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

OP, ignore Bugfer.......best wait until they go off for a long weekend, that's usually in June.

Seriously though, I think it depends on which breed of bird it is as to how long they tend to nest for?

I know when we had the same problem, they seemed to be nesting for longer than we expected, although there was some confusion over whether this was the same lot of birds or whether we'd had replacements arriving and we hadn't noticed. In the end we waited until Autumn/Winter time before we did anything.

helphelphelphelp

Eyes, yes, vaguely heard of them. Manners, you know, being polite, is often the best way when sarcasm is uncalled for.

Alas with my eyes being in my head and therefore being only 5ft off the ground, looking under a roof that is proably 20 odd foot in the air is not the easiest task without a ladder (which I dont have) so was going to call a builder/maintenance person in when the nest was empty.

Have to say it, can see why your bird goes off shopping then for something to eat. Though am surprised she waits til 1pm on a Saturday.

Bufger

helphelphelphelp wrote: »

Eyes, yes, vaguely heard of them. Manners, you know, being polite, is often the best way when sarcasm is uncalled for.

Alas with my eyes being in my head and therefore being only 5ft off the ground, looking under a roof that is proably 20 odd foot in the air is not the easiest task without a ladder (which I dont have) so was going to call a builder/maintenance person in when the nest was empty.

Have to say it, can see why your bird goes off shopping then for something to eat. Though am surprised she waits til 1pm on a Saturday.

hahaha. I dont think it was uncalled for, you left yourself wide open to a post like that.

Cant you go into the loft and have a look in the eaves? I would guess its Starlings as thats the most common loft nesting problem. Heres a link to help you (see im not just a sarcastic bastage ;-) )

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/expert/previous/starlingsinroof.asp

helphelphelphelp

Will try and get someone to have a look in the loft for me (not too keen on bugs and if I even glanced at a spider would probably end up falling through the ceiling!) Not a ornithologist (another creature I am scared of!) but will have a look to see if I can identify the species. The fact that is is brown with feathers is about as good I get!

Thanks for the link.

isitenough

I know the feeling OP, as we have the same problem. Pretty sure ours are starlings so will get OH to go up (either inside or outside) and check! They're still there at present but hopefully in another couple of months they won't be and we can sort it out.

Bufger

helphelphelphelp wrote: »

Will try and get someone to have a look in the loft for me (not too keen on bugs and if I even glanced at a spider would probably end up falling through the ceiling!) Not a ornithologist (another creature I am scared of!) but will have a look to see if I can identify the species. The fact that is is brown with feathers is about as good I get!

Thanks for the link.

if its really dark brown on its back (folded wings) with what look like silver and green shining specs then its a starling. Heres what it looks like close up incase you're feeling brave: http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_images/starling_adult1.jpg

I would go and have a look after its had its bite to eat on a saturday, that way it wont eat you alive :eek::D

WestonDave

Be very careful. Some nesting sites are protected and cannot legally be blocked off.

I'm a little unclear why you think you need to secure it - the birds are unlikely to be in your loft, in our roof, they go under the bottom row of tiles and nest in the soffits - the wooden/plastic box like trim around the roof that the guttering fixes to. This is normally below the level of the ceiling/loft floor - and if your loft has normal levels of insulation this will prevent the birds gaining access to the actual loft space. They won't be doing any significant damage - its possible that over a very very long period any waste might slightly accellerate rot in wooden soffits, but in uPVC ones it will have no impact.

We have sparrows (brown - so might be yours) and then later Swifts nesting in ours and they cause no problem whatsoever - although it can be a bit wierd looking out the window directly below their nest and seeing them apparently flying straight at you - they swoop up at the last minute! Which reminds me I haven't seen our swifts yet this year - hope they have survived the winter.

aliasojo

WestonDave wrote: »

I'm a little unclear why you think you need to secure it -

In our case, the birds were directly above our back door and the step was covered in poop every day, all summer. I didn't want them there again the following year so closed off their access.

It's lovely watching them but they can sometimes be unwelcome.