I noticed that a family of birds has taken up residence in my house. Literally. They removed a flap from a vent and built a nice little nest in there. The vent isn’t necessary, so I wasn’t too worried about it. When I tried to remove the nest, I heard a bunch of chirping, so I figured I’d be a nice guy and let the bird family stay until they moved out, clean out the vent and cover it up.
So yesterday, I started removing the nest… and I cleared out most of it… until I heard the chirping of the chicks again (I thought they were gone, since I hadn’t heard them in quite a while). Now, they chirp all of the time, and I’m not sure how to get them out of there without killing them. The parents have returned and are guarding the nest with a vengeance.
So, my question is… how in the hell do I get them out of there without killing them? (I think they’ve figured out who I am… my car was covered with bird doodie this morning.)
Depending on the type of bird, you may not be legally allowed to remove them until they fledge. You need to identify the bird, then research how long they take to fledge (usuually under 2 weeks). Once they have left the nest, you can clean it up and do something to prevent a recurrence, but seriously, it is illegal to remove nestlings for many species.
Uh Max why don’t you just let them be and wait till they fledge and leave instead of evicting the poor baby birds? They are not hurting you are they? geez
I’d agree, just be patient. Most small birds will take only a few weeks to leave the nest after they’ve hatched. Once they leave, then get rid of the nest. (I’m assuming you didn’t wait so long to evict them that this isn’t a second nesting of the same birds.)
As cavity nesters, these could be either Starlings or House Sparrows, but they also could be something less common.
I don’t know where MAX lives, but if the lives in the SE USA, they could by Carolina wrens, who like to make nests around human habitats. Couldn’t they, ** COLIBRI **?
I had starlings nesting in the corners of my roof; they actually chewed/pecked through the timber fascias and built their nests behind. I waited until they had finished with the nests and screwed aluminium plates over the holes, they have not come back.
Just to put this to rest, I wanted to let everyone know (that cared) that I did leave the birds alone and they did clear out on their own. That’s the good news.
The bad news is they didn’t seem too pleased with my earlier destruction of their nest. So they crapped on everything, including the house, the air conditioning unit, and anything else in the vicinity. (Whomever came up with the insult “bird brain” did not meet my fine feathered friends).
I guess it was a fair reaction on their part. I’ll call it even.
Take it from a long-time parrot owner, amonia-based cleaners work pretty darn good at removing bird crap. If the guano deposit is on something sensitive to amonia be sure to rinse thoroughly with water.