Swallows

[sadam]

following the thread about the spiders does anyone know how to stop swallows from building nests at the door of my house, I put a little birdhouse out for them but they dont like it, i dont want to harm them but also dont want the mess that goes along with them.

[Cattach]

following the thread about the spiders does anyone know how to stop swallows from building nests at the door of my house, I put a little birdhouse out for them but they dont like it, i dont want to harm them but also dont want the mess that goes along with them.

With a name like Sadam you should be able to deal with a few swallows!!!

[sadam]

good one,, hahaha you would think so but no they Sh** on anyone their not fussy

[Margaret M.]

Barn swallows won't use birdhouses. They are one of my favourite birds and I would gladly put up with their mess for the short time they will be nesting. I have house finches nesting on a wreath on my front door so my front door and covered porch are off limits until the wee ones fledge. Not sure about Scotland but the only nests that can be removed legally here are those of starlings and house sparrows since they threaten the native bird population.

[Rourkee]

Don't know if this will help but we had this problem every year until we changed the colour of the barge boards from white to brown. Since then they have given us a miss.

[the_count]

hmm not sure if were getting a crossover here for house martins. To clarify house martins tend to nest under the eaves of roofs (yes painting the barge boards does put them off a bit) and swallows tend to build in outhouses and sheds (usually in the rafters). House martins are black and white and do not posess the rust brown face mask of the swallow. hope this helps :D

[Seabird]

Birds nesting where you dont want them.
The easy answer is to take action to prevent them getting established in the first place.
Humans are in the most part more intelligent than birds so this should not be to difficult to achieve.
A friend of mine had problems with Gulls nesting above her bay window.
So this year she put spiked strips in place to stop them.
And it seemed to work.
Until the Gulls removed them, obviously they have the intelligence to see if they can be removed.
She is now trying again, making them more secure.
I dont think Gull have worked out the art of using a crow bar.