Starlings in the attic?

SameOldRoundabout

We recently moved house and noticed noises in the attic. Only ever in the morning, very thump thump rather than scampering! Anyway, we assumed it must be a rat as the house had previously had them downstairs. Today we’ve seen a starling pair flying in through a gap in the boards carrying nesting materials! So although I’m rather relieved it looks like birds not rats I still don’t know how to resolve it. 

The house is an old 3 storey, our bedroom is in the attic with the smaller attic above. This attic has no boards and huge amounts of fibreglass insulation so you can’t go up there. The birds are down behind a section of the eaves that can’t be seen or accessed via the attic space as far as we can tell, and it can’t be accessed via the bedroom really as it’s plaster boarded over and filled with vermiculite insulation (some pieces have fallen out where the plasterboard doesn’t quite meet the wooden beam) which probably contains asbestos. 

How do we clear the birds out? Or shall we just leave them to have their chicks and employ someone to block up the outside hole in winter?

[Deleted User]

 I had this a few years back. Starling chicks woke me every day at 4am. AFAIK you can't disturb nesting birds but can block the gaps once they're finished raising their chicks. 

greyteam1959

I always thought starlings were classed as a pest but apparently not.
https://www.ipmpestcontrol.co.uk/pests-we-control/starlings/
The trouble with starlings is their droppings.
They sh*t flying into the nest & sh*t flying out & can make a considerable filthy health hazard if right over somewhere that you use regularly.
I would try ways to 'dissuade' them from carrying on nesting.

TELLIT01

If they are currently carrying in nesting material it suggests they haven't yet laid eggs.  I would be inclined to block the access hole when you are sure they are both out.  My own health would outweigh the disturbance to the birds.  They will in all probability just find another nest site.

Jonesya

If they're just in the eves or soffits and not getting into the attic then it doesn't sound like they can do much harm, it's quite possible there's been birds nesting there before.

Personally I'd leave them this year and get the hole blocked up later in the year and at the same time,. I'd put up a bird box because it's quite nice to have some birds and wild-life about. It'll be a dull old world when there's no birds around anymore and it seems to be heading that way.

Perhaps I'm getting old but as a kid I remember big flocks of starlings landing on the lawn, now you're lucky if you see any at all.

cajef

It is actually illegal to disturb nesting birds and that includes if they are in the process of nest building.

 https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wildlife-and-the-law/wildlife-and-countryside-act/

Tucker

I've had the same pair nesting in my eves for at least 5 years now. 
I just leave the be now. 
After the first time I blocked up the access but they returned and found another way in to re-use the same nest.
It's above my bay window and can wake you in the morning especially when the chicks are young and the car gets a bit of a splattering from droppings but I've got quite fond of seeing them come back each spring. 
They aren't too much trouble and there's no lasting damage. Live and let live and leave them be I say. 

TheCyclingProgrammer

We have starlings that return each year and nest in our eaves. Other than some bird muck on the conservatory roof, they do no harm and do not enter the loft. It’s illegal to disturb nesting birds, so leave them alone and if it still bothers you block up the gaps once they’ve left in Summer.