Are the birds that built their nest on your window bother you? Here are some tips to keep them away without harming them.
Birds may sometimes become unwanted guests, especially during the nesting season. It occupies an important place, such as the window of the house or the chimney of the fireplace. No matter how hard you try to drive it away, you will find it coming back to build its nest. Here are some simple strategies for removing bird nests or preventing them from forming in the first place.
Why should bird nests near the house be removed?
It is not a good idea to keep bird nests around the house due to the following reasons:
- Birds are a source of nuisance by chirping and whistling early in the morning, especially after their eggs are hatched.
- Birds can spoil food in the house, so it is not edible.
- The bad smell comes from the nests as a result of their composition, which combines straw, bird food, and droppings that accumulate in the nest.
- Bird’s nests can spread disease to your family, carrying parasites and pests such as ticks, scabies, bugs, and mites.
- Birds can get into the house, scare the kids, make a mess, and break decorative glassware.
- Bird nests can block stove vents and ventilation fans, increasing fire hazards.
- Bird droppings contain uric acid, which can damage the paint on cars and buildings.
Nest building time
It is important to know when birds build their nests to prepare to prevent them from being built. Birds can continue nesting for 2-10 weeks, depending on the type of bird.
The nesting season in the northern hemisphere begins in early February and continues until August in general, so you should prepare to take preventative measures for birds building their nests 2-3 months before the nesting season.
Tips and tricks for removing bird nests without harming them
Follow these tips and tricks to remove bird nests without harming them:
1. Determine the condition of the nest
This process is important, as getting rid of an abandoned bird’s nest is easy, while the same does not apply to inhabited nests. The condition of the nest can be classified into 3 categories or stages:
- Nest building stage: Here the birds are in the process of building the nest and have not yet laid their eggs in it, and the incomplete nest can simply be removed and disposed of with rubbish.
- The inhabited nest stage: in which the nest contains eggs or chicks, and cannot be disposed of quickly, and in this case, other measures must be taken.
- Abandoned nests stage: This is the stage in which birds leave the nests they built to migrate or search for food, this appears by seeing empty eggshells in the nest, and the nest can also be thrown away and disposed of in this case easily.
2. Prepare a list of tools needed to remove the nest
There are some tools you need to successfully remove a nest, the most notable of which are the following:
- Protective equipment (gloves, mask): to prevent inhalation of infectious agents into the nest.
- Hand soap: To sanitize hands after removing the nest.
- Bird repellent gel: It is a special gel that keeps birds away from the house.
- Ladder: We use it if the nest is in a high place, and to move the nest to a safe place.
- Bleach: To clean the place of the nest after its removal.
- Insecticides: to remove insects at the nest site.
- Sieve: to cover openings and places from which the nests have been removed to prevent birds from building their nest again.
3. Determine the presence of nearby threats and secure another place for the nest
If the nest is inhabited, it will become difficult to keep the birds away from their chicks, so you must ensure that the nest is moved to another area close to it outside your house so that it does not disturb you or harm the birds, as you can hold the nest in a large bag and move it when the adult birds leave to find food, and then you can put it in A place away from the threat areas for these chicks, such as low edges that cats or dogs can reach, and trees are ideal safe places for this purpose, or you can buy a house designated for birds if you want to give them a home near you in a place of your choice instead of your window.
4. Keeping birds away from the nests to move them
It is necessary to wait a few hours or a day before removing the birds from their nests when they refuse to leave since they frequently incubate their eggs or the time for egg-laying is drawing near. Birds can be removed from their nests to move the nests to another location using the following methods:
- Perform expulsion movements with the hands.
- Make a loud sound to scare away birds, whether by clapping or using a megaphone.
- Spray water on the birds using a mist sprayer.
- Use a hair dryer in cold air to not harm the bird.
- Keep birds away using a duster.
5. Avoid forming nests
“An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” Therefore, we can avoid having to remove nesting birds at the window of the house by preventing the formation of bird nests in the first place, and you can do this by following the following tips:
- Removing leftovers and closing garbage bins tightly: to prevent attracting the smell of leftovers to birds looking for food.
- Cleaning the surroundings of the house from straw or sticks: It is like the bricks from which birds build their nests, and if you do not find a nearby source of sticks, you will find a place with better conditions.
- Use of insecticide: Birds feed on insects, and if they are not available in their nesting area, they will go to an area that contains an abundance of insect food.
- Install guards for wide openings: Screens can be installed on chimney openings or fans and gutters that birds see as ideal homes.
- Installing mechanical bird deterrents: such as flexible nails or barbed wire.
- Scare the birds: simple means such as hanging bright laser discs, scarecrows, or lasers can be used to expel birds, and people also use automatic water sprinklers that prevent birds from approaching the house.
Birds are not considered harmful to humans. There are several studies based on the use of birds as vital indicators of the presence of pollution in residential areas.