How to Get Rid of Swallows Making Mud Nests

It is illegal to destroy nests with young.

Swallow species, such as the barn swallow and cliff swallow, often set up shop on man-made structures. Whether it's your barn, home or other outbuilding, if it offers sufficient shelter to the birds, they may decide to build their nest on it. Swallows use mud to make their nests. This can soil your property, and paired with their droppings and nest bugs, you may have a problem on your hands. To deter swallows from nesting on your property, incorporate exclusion measures and scare tactics.

Things You'll Need

• Fiberglass panel or bird netting
• Metal prongs
• Water hose
• Predator replica
• Foil or bird tape
• Tape
• Rope
• Gas exploder
• Pan
• Spoon

Instructions

1. Barricade access to possible nesting sites. Mount a fiberglass panel from the outer edge of the eaves of your home down to the wall. The diagonal panel makes it impossible for birds to reach the sheltered area of your home and may stimulate them to nest elsewhere. Use bird netting with openings no larger than 1 inch as an alternative.

2. Place metal prongs, that stick out in various directions, on ledges of your building where birds may land. When birds come near the spikes, they notice they can't land, and may relocate.

3. Wash away muddy buildup from your home on a regular basis. Mud can indicate the beginning of a swallow nest. Use a water hose to clean your home's outer walls. Because swallows may think a rainstorm destroyed their beginning nest, they may rebuild it. If so, wash the nest away again to discourage the bird and to get it to move.

4. Place a replica of a predator animal near common swallow nesting areas. A fake fox or owl can scare away swallows. Move the decoy to different areas regularly, because otherwise the birds may grow accustomed to it.

5. Cut out strips of foil that are approximately 1 inch in width and 12 inches in length. Tape a piece of rope to each foil strip and attach it to your home near possible nesting areas. The hanging foil shimmers in the sun and its flickering scares off swallows. As an alternative, use commercial bird tape.

6. Set up a gas-operated exploding device to frighten away swallows. The loud bomb-like sound of the exploding device scares off the birds and may keep them from coming back. As an alternative, go outdoors, bang on a pan with a spoon and scream loudly to scare off birds.

Tips & Warnings

• Combine swallow-deterring methods to get the best result; if one method is not effective, another one may work.

• Swallows are protected under state and federal laws. Killing, trapping and harming them, or destroying their fully constructed nests, is illegal.

References

• University of California; Pests of Homes, Structures, People, and Pets; T.P. Salmon; June 2005
• Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management; Swallows; W. Paul Gorenzel, et al.