Keeping birds out

[Frank]

Anyone have any tricks to keep birds, particularly starlings, from nesting in sheds? I’ve a good amount of holes around the roof and doors that I’ll never get blocked up in time, and while I really don’t want to knock down nests once they’re up, I’ll have to as I can’t be without the sheds for months. The shite on everything would be an issue too. Hung up some foil but presumably that would only work in direct sunlight. Thanks.

[Del.Monte]

I'm not going to get into a row about this but it's against the law to interfere with breeding birds and really it's up to you to stop them getting in before they get started. If it's Swallows you really need to leave them alone as they are rapidly becoming an endangered species. I'm well aware of how dirty Starlings and Swallows can be and not having a go at you.

[765489]

Any time I've birds nesting in awkward locations I get a bin bag and tie twine on 4 corners and tie to the rafters so its collecting the bulk of the shite. Depending how much galvanising or tiles you have you coukd get that plastic green meshing they sell in garden shops and cut it and roll it up and shove it in under the ridges. Some of my sheds have a waterproof membrane under them so the don't get into through the membrane. As Del says should be done at the start of the year.

If you've swallows be thankful you have them. Lovely birds to have in any shed in my opinion. Just hang a bit of plastic under the nesting area and remove and bin it when they are gone.

[Frank]

They go mad and swoop all the time as soon as you go in the door. I had it all last summer and I’m not having it this summer too. The sheds really need to be knocked and rebuilt long term but at this stage I’m just going to have to have a good go at trying to get them blocked up over the next few evenings before it’s too late.
As annoying as they are I wouldn’t knock one down once they’d laid, but if I see one half built or anything it’ll have to go. Prevention definitely seems to be the route I need to take as I can’t find any tricks for deterring them once it’s indoors.

[isha]

They do shyte a fair amount. You can gather it and put it on the compost heap. Leave some cardboard under the nests. We have them under all the eaves. I like their mad swooping in the evening. They eat loads of midges, so that's a big bonus because they can be a plague round our area. But I don't have a big midge problem and I think it's the swallows. Swallows eat 60 insects every daylight hour, mostly midges. Bats eat midges too, so delighted to see them moving in. They eat 3000 midges a night, so you have day and night teams helping you!

I see railway stations have kind of spiky stuff all along ledges where birds might nest, plus some places have fake predator birds on a prominent place to scare off nesters. You could try those things.