Birds Making Nests in Houses
Some birds put their nests inside of holes (including ones into the house). Birds that do this are categorized as “cavity dwellers”. The starling is a widespread, invasive species that is a cavity dweller.
As such, starlings are one of the few bird species that is not protected by federal law and our most frequent nuisance bird.
We often get calls to remove birds and their nests in soffits, attics, vents, and other entries into houses.
Take this recent video Ryan made, for example, which shows birds using a bathroom vent
Starlings are opportunists and when they find a weak spot they exploit it. Therefore, any weakness that leads to the attic could lead to starlings getting in. Loose gable vents and vents without screening are the biggest cause of starlings in the attic.
Take for example, the end of this ridge vent pictured to the right.
The arrow points to an installed end piece which blocks entry from animals like birds. But what if that end piece is NOT installed?
That was exactly the case in a recent bird-in-the-attic job.
The end piece which is pictured here was nowhere to found when we showed up. We put it there before we left.
But, a huge starling nest was found in the attic!
As they are likely to do, starlings found this weakness and loaded the attic under this vent with nesting material and bird poop.
Starling Nest in the Attic
Here is a look at the nesting material in the attic:
From these pictures, it is a little difficult to appreciate the amount of material present. But, really, it’s a lot. All of it could barely fit into two 55 gallon trash bags- you know, the big ones.
In addition to removing the nesting material, some of the blown in insulation had so much bird pooh and feathers in it that it had to be removed as well.
This picture of the insulation replacement should give you a better perspective of the footprint of the nesting material. We didn’t exactly measure, but 20 square feet is hardly an exaggeration.
The pink, blown-in insulation in the picture is the original. The roll insulation (with the brown backing) is what we used to replace the pink stuff we had to remove.
As you can hopefully see, this nest area was pretty impressive!
Help With Birds in Vents | Akron, Kent, Canton, OH Area
If you’ve found that starlings are nesting in a part of your home and you’d like them removed, give us a call.
Dealing with starlings is a pretty straightforward process of 1) stopping their method of entry and 2) cleaning up what’s left behind.
