Swallows nesting in trailer!

[MagicMelon]

Has anyone else had bumper swallows nesting this year? They've nested EVERYWHERE here, fed up of them! They've pooed all over my tackroom, all in our sheds and kept trying to nest in my horse trailer - I removed the nest as it was being built time and time again but they got ahead of me at one point and successfully laid eggs. These have now hatched and the baby birds are now trying to fly round the trailer. Im fed up of them, they have made SUCH a mess in it and I now want to use my trailer and actually go to some horse events next week. Has anyone else had birds nesting in their trailer? If so, how do I deter them?? My trailers a bateson so has a gap at the front window and a gap all along the top of my top ramp door. Is mesh the only way forward next year? Such a faff to do that everytime I come back from a horse event though...

 

[Catbird]

I'd amend your post as it's illegal to intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wildlife-and-the-law/wildlife-and-countryside-act/

Netting can stop them from accesing areas suitable for nesting, along with nest boxes where you don't mind them. They're a declining species so would be a shame to completely exclude them

 

[Jenko109]

You're off to prison.

 

[PurBee]

Once they find a preferred nesting spot they are known to return year after year. I’d seal all trailer gaps with some mesh if you can. Its a bit late once theyre in there!
I feel your pain as they nest in all outbuildings here storing tools/vehicles/bedding/feed/belongings etc and by autumn everything is covered in poop. If it was sterile and non-toxic i wouldnt be fussed but no poop ever is, especially old decaying poop! Washing everything down annually after their visits is not a quick job at all. Weeks of cleaning up.
This year i decided to close the door of at least my tool barn giving them everywhere else. I read online from swallow websites they prefer nice large entrances, so i closed the door and left the 8 inch square hole ‘vent’ in the stone wall for the bats that live in there, to exit and enter at night.
When the swallows arrived they were flying past the door, knowing there was a nest in there.
More turned up, and lo and behond, one day i went into the tool barn, only to see a swallow flying around in there at their old nest! Then, like a batman silhouette, another swallowed landed and perched at the hole in the wall, shuffling across the 2 ft thickness of stone wall, to fly off the edge to the nest!

Yes, they prefer large entrances, but if there’s a nest place they really like, they’ll use any gap to get at it!

In the end i gave in this year, opened my tool barn door and let them at it. Due to the bats (highly protected) i cant close off the gaps in the barn completely anyway. My solution next year is install a low tarpaulin false roof over my tools/equipment. I’ve covered everything in the past with tarps, but they end up sliding off due to cats hunting rats, and wind. A tarp low roof is my only solution at this stage!

Bats were over-wintering in my horse box one year, hiding behind a sheet of 4x8 board i had stored in there to keep it dry! I transported them to the barn with the other bats.
Nature will use our shelters. Its best to not let them start and seal everything!

 

[MagicMelon]

Dont think Id be off to prison considering the homes Ive given to millions of the things here! I cannot have a nest again in a vehicle which is meant to be moved! Im sure youd be allowed to take away a nest being built on a car for example, literally the birds would die if they had eggs and the vehicle drove off leaving the mum behind. This is what I had wanted to avoid.

There's no excluding them, honestly I cant even count the number of nests in my sheds. They've made an absolute mess everywhere so Im going to have to be more proactive with regards putting up tarpolin underneath their nests to stop the poo going everywhere. The only place I cannot have them nesting is in the trailer again so I'll have to try to block the gaps but thats so hard when Im using the trailer regularly.

 

[Spotherisk]

I can’t help with your trailer problem but I’ve seen umbrellas hung under nests to stop the worst of the mess.

 

[Gloi]

I love the ones nesting in my stable even though my pony ends up looking like a snowflake appaloosa.
Don't have as many as last year though, but the second brood has just fledged.

 

[MagicMelon]

I can’t help with your trailer problem but I’ve seen umbrellas hung under nests to stop the worst of the mess.

Thanks, will have to try something so may try this idea!

 

[MagicMelon]

I love the ones nesting in my stable even though my pony ends up looking like a snowflake appaloosa.
Don't have as many as last year though, but the second brood has just fledged.

Maybe yours are all up north here! Ive had a massive bumper crop of them this year. Usually theyre never much of a problem but this year they've been such a pain with their mess, they've chucked the odd baby out of its nest in my tack room so Ive had to try and climb up ladders to put them back in, we cant really go in the sheds much as theyve nested so close to the door and go nuts when we come in so we dont want to upset them, the parents keep dive bombing my poor elderly cat every time she tries to walk across the lawn, the trailer issue is such a pain etc. Wish theyd go!

 

[PurBee]

Dont think Id be off to prison considering the homes Ive given to millions of the things here! I cannot have a nest again in a vehicle which is meant to be moved! Im sure youd be allowed to take away a nest being built on a car for example, literally the birds would die if they had eggs and the vehicle drove off leaving the mum behind. This is what I had wanted to avoid.

There's no excluding them, honestly I cant even count the number of nests in my sheds. They've made an absolute mess everywhere so Im going to have to be more proactive with regards putting up tarpolin underneath their nests to stop the poo going everywhere. The only place I cannot have them nesting is in the trailer again so I'll have to try to block the gaps but thats so hard when Im using the trailer regularly.

Once theyve vacated this year, if you were to park your trailer so its tucked-in close by trees/buildings, that may deter them. Especially hide the larger opening where theyre more likely to get in.
They like to have a clear flight-path to their nest site usually, and wouldnt want to have trees blocking their way in or have to make really tight turns by close buildings.
Tarping over a trailer from the ground is difficult as theyre so tall, but if you have a low place to park, and can be on a hill beside the trailer you might be able to chuck a tarp over, or a cargo net stretched with bungees.

 

[Parrotperson]

I’m afraid that if a bird did nest in your car and you moved the car ( and hence the best) you’d be committing an offence.

Whatever you do don’t use netting.

Seal up anyway if getting to the trailer after everyone has fledged. Use avery wire if necessary.

Netting will catch in bird feet and us very cruel as they can die from being trapped in it.

 

[dottylottie]

no advice but i feel your pain, they’re bloody everywhere here too - Lily has a nest right above her stable door, so the door, floor and pony are covered in poo on a daily basis. I found a baby who’d been kicked out too, unfortunately dead, im presuming before it hit the floor!

Our barn is home to swallows, wood pigeons and chickens, so i’ve got tarp over all my hay and bedding, that our lovely chickens do their best to pull down!

 

[YourValentine]

I'm sure the RSPB have tips on how to discourage them, legally, from nesting in your trailer.

But as a declining endangered species, as annoying as the poo is I'm delighted to see them and the House Martins every year.

 

[paddy555]

I too feel your pain. We are overwhelmed with them. They managed to get into OH's workshop and it was unbelievable the gap they got through to get in. Our stables are next to the back door and if we leave it open we get them in the kitchen.
For your trailer I would plan ahead when they have gone and see if you can use either a piece of sheet industrial rubber or a small sheet of tarpaulin to block the trailer gaps.
Otherwise they will be back. It may be possible to have something over the gaps that you can simply open each time you want to use it.

we have one nest I shall tear down in Sept as all 4 babies fell out and died. I think it is not substantial enough.
Ours are very tame so the young (which we seem to produce in greater abundance each year) all come back each year and the numbers are getting out of control.
We wanted to start a small building job 3 weeks ago until OH found out even more of our little "friends" had moved in. They are ruling out lives.

They like to have a clear flight-path to their nest site usually, or have to make really tight turns by close buildings.

strangely enough ours seem to chose their nest sites based on several tight turns. They have around 3 changes of direction to get into the stables (their favourite)
I often wonder if that is because tight turns are easy for them but far more difficult for the lumbering magpies.