"Starlings ... help!!!" Topic

We live in a two-storey house, where the upper storey is in the pitched roof. As a result, most of our roof-space is so small that it cannot be accessed by humans. But it is perfect for starlings!

Each year, our roof-space gets invaded by starlings, who nest in there. They scrabble round above the ceiling, right above our heads. Once the eggs hatch, you get the wild peeping as the parents bring in food for them every few minutes. Infuriating!

I've had professional roofers come several times to try and block the holes from the outside where they get in, but each time they block one opening, the little beggars seem to find – or make – another one.

This year we made a trap-door into one of the few bigger spaces that a human can just get into. Leave the trap-door open, sometimes a bird flies into the room, which I then catch and … er … dispose of. I've done in four birds this way in the last couple of weeks, but there seem to be plenty more of them!

So, it is WAR against the starlings … does anyone know a good way to deal with them? Are there bird poisons that work, for instance, or some sort of aerosol 'bomb'. Or is this a job for the professional exterminators – and how would they deal with the starlings?

Exterminators won't do much good – you aren't dealing with an infestation of vermin…but opportunistic nesters.

Past experience with dealing with other similar problems (bats, squirrel, birds…) – patching the entrance points is the easiest and most permanent way to deal with it. Starlings aren't normally birds that will make holes, so apparently the old holes are still available for them. Go around the entire roof, under the eaves, check for loose flashing and soffit material. Fix any that is broken, replace any that is missing. Get that all taken care of, and then you shouldn't have any further problems.

Ideas…

A: Cat
B: BB Gun
C: Exterminator
D: Do your attic area in metal, so they can't find a way in.

Take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

C'mon… You knew someone had to say it.

What mrln68 said – having had a quick Google, shutting them out is the only realistic option; holes 1.5" or larger are accessible for them.

Dom.

You do not want to poison them or kill them, it will really stink bad, think decaying putrid rotting corpses you can't reach, a really wonderful aroma especially during hot summer months.

What mrln68 said. And borrow the neighbor's cat for a couple of days. The birds nest there because it is safe and they can get in easily. The cat will scare them away, then you can patch the holes to keep them out. Look around the outside of the house for a trail of bird droppings high along the walls. This should point straight to the hole they are using.

I had this for two years running but eventually found an ultimate solution (thanks to the Father in law – countryside wisdom).

Just pin/tape a white plastic bag (the sort of thing you get at the supermarket)near to the eaves where the birds enter the roof. They really hate this as it blows in the wind and ours were gone in a day. Have never returned either (keep the bag up for a week or two if possible).

For the record my starlings found their way through three layers od wire mesh (the previous years solution).

You could try putting a few bird houses in the backyard, to see if they will nest there.

Try putting a fake owl, or hawk on the roof. That might work too. Apparently, they also ward off pigeons.

This might work.

First warn the neighbours and the local fire department.

Get a smoke bomb, open the hatch, throw the smoke bomb into the roof space, close the hatch.

The smoke will drive the birds out.

Also the smoke will come out of the holes, video the event to record the position of the holes to be blocked up.

However, there is a risk you may burn down your house, but you will have the video to sell to a television show.

I found the easiest way to seal off a space like attics, etc. is to sit up there in the dark, and where ever you see light coming in, nail a board over it. Much easier than looking from the outside, because inevitably something gets overlooked.

Thanks, guys.

As mentioned, the majority of the roof-space is not big enough for a human to enter. It is only about 10cms high in most places, the ceiling being attached directly to the underside of the rafters … so maybe an army of 25mm humans might get in, but not me!

And over the years I've also had professional roofers over more times than my wallet can spare to find and patch up any holes from the outside.

I take the point about not killing the birds inside the roof – pooh!!!

So maybe some of those "scare 'em off" ideas might be the best bet (with the smoke bomb as an ultra-last resourt!). The plastic bag idea sounds a good one.

So thanks, guys … and keep any other ideas coming.

First of all, I highly recommend a cat.

Alternatively, a lot of cat scent might do it. If you have friends with cats you might ask for used cat litter and throw it around.

Another approach would be to fill the upper story ("storey?" you folks in New Zealand are very exotic) with expanding foam.

The second best answer is to plug the holes, but the professionals have been and didn't accomplish it. The obvious next step would be amateurs, which brings you here to the miniatures page. The smoke bomb idea actually has merit here: not for driving them out, which would only work until half an hour after you run out of smoke bombs, but for revealing the holes. Build a nice, big, smokey fire upstairs and look for where the smoke comes out.

My dad had bats recently, and the bat-person he hired hung netting under the eaves. This netting allows the bats to get out, but not back in. After a couple of days you can seal up the entries. In your case, perhaps you hang up the netting on the eaves for the two or three weeks each season when the dreaded avians establish their nests. Once they've all found homes you take it down. This is an inconvenient solution, but if you truly can't find the entries to block them, its cheap.

But the very best answer would be a cat. They also take care of mice. Ours also keeps our feet warm, removes paint from door jambs, and has shredded four of the five corners of our sectional couch. But we don't have starlings or mice.

Andrew

If you can get them into the spaces; try rolling in some moth balls. Chemical warfare that drives the enemy away is best.

As part of my job I often have to deal with infestations of one kind or another.
With the recent Avian flu scares in the UK, I have had to deal with quite a few bird infestations recently.
As I live in the UK I am not familiar with building materials or techniques used in NZ and I have not seen your house nor have any knowledge of its age, I am making an assumption that it is reasonably similar to houses in the UK.
If there are no visible means of entry on the underside of the eves, the problem may lie where the roof tiles rest on the fascia board, just above the guttering, especially if you have profiled roof tiles. This will not be visible from ground level and there will be no droppings on the ground underneath to mark the point of entry, as the droppings will be caught in the gutter and the gutter will conceal the entry points.
First I would recommend you spend a bit of time in the garden and try to identify the entry points yourself, during the nesting season the birds will be back and forth several times per hour.
I would then recommend that you have a Professional Building Surveyor take a look at your roof to identify the entry points and prepare a report on the general condition of the roof and the best course of action to rectify any damage or decay. This should cost no more than having roofing contractors round to put a few patches on and will prove more cost effective in the long run.
I don't want to be the prophet of doom but you should have this dealt with sooner rather than later, as there are risks, however small, of disease, further damage and accelerated decay in the roof timber.
I was going to suggest that you post a few pictures of your roof somewhere so I could have a look (my miniatures geekyness is nothing compared to my building work geekyness) but it would be pretty pointless without a site visit, as it would all be guess work.
Hope you get it sorted soon, keep us posted.
If you want me to make a site visit I would be happy to, but you would have to cover my travel and expenses.
Cheers
Steve

This is the house:

picture

The roof is long-run corrugated iron, not tiles. As you can see, the rooms on the second storey are built up into the roof, so the space between ceiling and roof in most cases is only a few centimetres.

Steve, we would love you to come for a site visit, but those incidental costs might be a little steep!

After looking at the picture it is possible that the problem is with the eaves closure.
In the UK we use a comb closure under the first row of tiles, link
As your roof is corrugated sheeting we (in the UK) would use a rigid profile closure, PDF link (half way down "Eaves closure pieces Design Detailing")
Your house looks fairly new so I would expect that it has a closure of some sort installed, so the problem may be just a breach in the closure which could be easily and economically repaired.
First determine weather a closure is actually installed, then check it for breaches, pay particular attention to the valley's and gables. After you find the breach it should be a simple job to repair or patch the closure.
Hope this helps and you get a speedy resolution.
BTW my former boss took early retirement last month and moved to NZ, he left work on the Friday, dropped his car off on the Monday and was in NZ on the Wednesday. After looking at the picture of your house I can see the attraction.
Cheers
Steve

One of the other issues that I have dealt with in regards to that type of roofing is that getting a good seal in the ridges and valleys is a bit of a pain. They have strips that are designed to cover those areas, but most do require a good bit of effort to install them properly – and a lot of roofing contractors in the US don't bother (figuring the check will be cashed before it rains anyway).

It's a very durable roofing material when installed properly – but if it was done right the first time it can be a bit of a pain to find all the holes and patch them up.

Maybe you could rig up a small loudspeaker in the roofspace. a few recordings of Birds of prey , Cats , Elephants …. Well, you've got to have some fun when the relatives drop in….