Okay Mamas, now that I have your attention, get your minds out of the gutters!! LOL. ;-P~~
This is a post about a bird, or more precisely two! Barn swallows, I think. They invaded our garage and started to make a mud nest that dripped onto our Pilot (I thought Hubby had tried to go off-roading or something, lol). I told Hubby if we make sure that the garage doors are shut maybe they would give up and go away. Nope, instead they are circling and dive-bombing us. Then yesterday, I opened the patio/deck door to put out some dinner on the grill and one flew into the house!! I stood there shouting and finally after 4 or 5 laps of my living room, it left. Now they are attacking the deck!
I am worried about the kids, especially.They haven't actually hurt anyone yet but... How do you get rid of them? I'd prefer something humane. My Dad says they return to nesting sites each year. I cannot have these birds living in MY house, especially rent-free. ;-)
HELP!!
~C.
PS. There are no nests yet. Or eggs. Just lots of mud, and they are being very industrious. I just discovered them flitting to the ledge outside my basement door. There is lots of mud so they are working hard, but like I said, no nest yet... I can't let them have their way with my door all day. I'm worried about getting to the nest stage!
I don't have any idea, but I wanted to let you know my mind was COMPLETELY in the gutter.
You gave me a laugh and I needed one today :-)
Living the Discovery Channel?
If you can figure out how to make friends it would be pretty cool to chart that they will come back to nest each year and might be a fun ritual.
I heard they are scared of owls. You get one of those plastic owls and set it up on the deck.
What fun you are having!
That nesting instinct is very strong in birds. Are you sure they didn't finish the nest and there are no eggs there they are trying to get back to? Call your local animal control officer and ask for advice. Or the Audubon Society.
Did you check the nest? There might be eggs in it that they are trying to get too. If there are they aren't going to let up til you either let them hatch their eggs or you try to move the nest and eggs.
If there are no eggs then you can hang some wind chimes, Get some stuff to hang that flutters and flaps in the wind. You could also look into banging some stuff to make loud noises before you exit or enter your home to chase them off.
Swallow nests don't look like regular nests... they look like big clumps of mud. I have seen some that were slightly smaller than my fist... So it COULD be that they are trying to get to their nests....
Put up an owl dummy, or get some cats! lol. You could also try nailing some fake snakes to the areas they seem to like the best. I've never tried that to keep them out of a builing... but it works GREAT to keep birds out of gardens, so it may help your problem.
Good luck! One or two birds are ok... but when they start interfering with your property, they gotta go! I'm with you there!
Call your local animal shelter and ask what you can do. My grandfather used to work for the one around here and I can't tell you how many ride-a-longs I went on for the bird calls :) Especially since those were the only ones he took me on.
LMAO @ 'SWALLOW', HAHAHA!! Yes, my mind was elsewhere...
Do you see where they could have come in? First, block that off. They'll kind of freak out once they can't go find food or more nesting material. If your comfortable leaving your garage door open, I would, then try to aggravate them by swooping a fishing net by where they're trying to nest. Usually they get scared and fly OUT after a while.
I get birds in my screen porch all the time, from when the kids leave the door open. Not as many hiding places as your garage, but still a pain!!
I think if you back down and leave the alone, they won't be a bother.
Swallows are insectivors. They catch their pray (bugs) by swooping down and catching them mid air. This could be the "dive-bombing" that you've seen (or they could feel threatened by you and are trying to protect their nest). I would't mind having a couple of insect-destroying machines in my yard.
But if you truly want to get rid of them, the best bet is to call animal control and let them relocate the birds.
