How to Stop Birds From Building Mud Nests on My Front Porch
monicakm_gw
15 years ago
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lucybcstx
9 years agolucybcstx
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Bird Nesting in my Hanging Flowerpot
Comments (7)Actually, I got a better look at mother bird from across the yard. She seems to be a dull-colored robin. While she was away from the nest, I got up on a ladder to look and see what I was dealing with, and she has already hatched some baby birds. I have been regularly watering the nest out of ignorance until yesterday, and so far the babies seem to be breathing but not chirping. Also so far, I have not accidentally drowned them. I have a friend that has an extra shepherd's hook, and I may move the nest to under a tree next to my garden in a protected area, so that the birds can develop without all the comings and goings of my house. Also, if they fall out, they will land on soft dirt and not the hard cement of my porch. This just feels so unnatural and a little strange to me......See MoreWill this bird's nest damage my house?
Comments (3)In my experience with robins, there doesn't seem to be much that will disturb them. We had one insist on building a nest on top of our porch lamp just outside the front door. We kept knocking it down and back up it would go! Finally, she constructed a darned skyscraper and laid her eggs. All before 5 am, when I usually made my first demolition. Once she laid the eggs.....she won the battle. She raised her family in spite of the fact that the nest was inches away from the door we used all day long. The babies fledged in our front yard....See MoreRevisiting How to Keep Swallows From Building Nests...
Comments (114)I just stumbled upon this post as I try to prevent the recurring problems from Barn Swallows again this year. Unfortunately, the image is no longer available and I cannot see how you hung the netting. We have a colony of Barn Swallows that roost at our apartment building each year. The landlord hates them, but a former tenant had posted signs everywhere about how it was illegal to remove the nests. It was only through my own research that I realized it was only illegal while eggs or babies were in the nests, and those tenants moved out this winter. In addition to nesting on top of our buildings lights, covered walkways, and eaves, my apartment and the one next door have outdoor entrances from our gorgeous courtyard and patio which have covered stairwells. Each year, the swallows fly through these two stairwells like its the Lincoln Tunnel, dive bombing anyone who tries to walk on the stairs. They build their nests on the outlet boxes or porch lights. The first summer we lived here, I thought it was really neat to have such a close view of their lives, as I would often sit on my steps and could watch the babies as they grew, taking great care to be quiet and non-threatening. However, I also found that my porch steps and exterior wall were covered with bird droppings. They are also very very noisy when there is an entire colony of them outside of your windows. All of the "teenage" birds hang out in one of our courtyard trees outside of my window, which my cat loves but can actually drown out any conversation or television in our living room. Then I experienced what I thought were bed bugs in our house. I had tiny bites head to toe and could constantly feel them crawling on me despite rarely being able to see anything. It got so bad that I was getting the bites infected from itching all the time, and I couldn't sleep because I could feel the bugs crawling on my skin as soon as I tried to relax. I finally captured a few and took them to the University's Department of Entymology, who identified them as bird mites. That experience was HORRIFIC. I was ready to burn our entire building down after reading that the bird mites multiply much more quickly than bed bugs and are nearly impossible to remove. Luckily, the mites died off when the birds finally left for the season, but I can no longer sit outside on my wooden stairs because I fear contracting them again. The next spring, I tried the knock-down method, just on my own stairwell. I would open my screen door 2 inches and use a broom handle to knock down the nests up to 7 times a day. The swallows became very agitated, and and two attacked my daughter's head when she got home from school one of the days. I couldn't sit inside and repeat this process forever, though, and they got their nest up one day while I was off at a 12 hour work shift. The outlet covers they use are too high up to see into, and I knew that some other nests already had eggs, so I couldn't knock it down, more out of compassion than fear of charges. This will be our third summer here. Our elderly landlord has given up trying to prevent them from nesting even in the building entryways. I have removed my porch light cover so there is no solid surface to nest on, but the outlet box cover is too high up and I can't put a ladder on the stairs to reach it. I have considered trying to throw a cotton ball soaked with peppermint oil up there (it has worked in the past for mice and spider problems), or hanging a bunch of cut aluminum as a mobile at the top of the steps (I have heard that the reflections off the metal scare birds off), but I simply can't go through another year of this if those methods don't work. I saw that I could use something to create a 45% slope where the nest to prevent them, but again... getting up there is an issue. I am curious to see how you used the mesh. Could you please share the picture again?...See MoreHow do i keep birds from nesting in my hanging baskets? ughhhh
Comments (17)I have the same problem in Florida with my orchids. They hang in various baskets under the trees. Not only do the birds try to nest in the baskets, they love the sphagnum moss which is part of the potting mix. They also love the coir baskets, pulling chunks off the baskets which leaves big holes where all the potting mix falls out. One thing I did last year which seemed to work was to add small lava rock to the top of the potting mix. They do not like it and have left the plants alone. I removed it after nesting season and saved it for this year. I found a bunch of house wrens and finches landing in the baskets this morning and I knew it was time to get the rock out. You could probably use small gravel. Would work the same. Good luck and let us know how it goes... Jane...See Moremonicakm_gw
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