Birds Nesting In Roof

downshifted

We moved 3 weeks ago and found we had squatters - a pair of great tits nesting in a box on the wall. So we have postponed having the window next to the box replaced by French Doors - even though it wil cost more to get the builders back later rather than just include it with the other work they are doing!

We also have what we think are blue tits in a box on the shed at the bottom of the garden and a blackbird may be nesting in a tree we had planned to take down - we will do it in the autumn now. There is a friendly robin too - we are really enjoying the wildlife here and don't want to disturb them unduly

Soft or what?

WestonDave

aliasojo wrote: »

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.

Fair comment - I've not noticed any droppings from ours and they do tend to nest over the garage rather than over the used pathways.

BB1984

downshifted wrote: »

We moved 3 weeks ago and found we had squatters - a pair of great tits nesting in a box on the wall. So we have postponed having the window next to the box replaced by French Doors - even though it wil cost more to get the builders back later rather than just include it with the other work they are doing!

We also have what we think are blue tits in a box on the shed at the bottom of the garden and a blackbird may be nesting in a tree we had planned to take down - we will do it in the autumn now. There is a friendly robin too - we are really enjoying the wildlife here and don't want to disturb them unduly

Soft or what?

Not soft at all. It is actually illegal to disturb nesting birds, so you would have been breaking the law in carrying out any of that work!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/law/whatsintheroof/stop_nesting.asp

BB

isitenough

aliasojo wrote: »

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.

Yep, poop city under out nesting place as well, so that's why we want to deal with it, not to mention the litter they drop (quite a lot, I was surprised!) while flying up to the nest.
I don't see a problem with blocking it off when they've finished with it for the year. A lot of people obviously don't mind but not all of us are happy with out lodgers!

honeyD

We have birds in our roof. Theyve been there a while now and wake me up most mornings lol but I dont want to push them out. We see them going in and out so we know where they are getting in. We are looking at moving though so its going to be left since we dont want to disturb them. I think these are starlings too. Very pretty things they are.

Perdi

We had Starlings too for a couple of years and I loved having them. Though one year two of the babies fell out the nest, it wasn't nice finding the bodies outside the front door.

We were having the soffits replaced anyway so it got blocked off. The guy who did the work did say that although they don't usually get in the loft space they can tear at the lining to create more space and cause damage that way, OH showed me a picture of up there and it was a mess. Squirrels are much worse though apparently.

Savvy_Sue

Sooner birds than squirrels ...

Penny_Watcher

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Sooner birds than squirrels ...

And sooner squirrels than rats :eek:


(Yes - I know - squirrels are just rats with fluffy tails and better PR )

Primrose

Many birds raise a second brood if the weather conditions are good so it could be August before it's really safe to get any roof gaps blocked up. It's preferable to strike before the colder weather sets in as they'll probably start using again for roosting in winter to protect themselves against the wind and rain.