birds
 

i have a starling problem..........
they have pecked the gauze away on my soffits and are nesting in the eaves of my roof........
i will be removing the wooden soffits to replace them with upvc this year.....
when would they not be nesting or have young so i can remove them and the soffits?

Re: birds
 

the best time is now before the spring or late summer
Do you have tiles or slate roof,because they will still try and get under if you have tiles and you need to put something between the soffit and tiles to stop them

Re: birds
 

Oh I so hate starlings when they are roosting.Very noisy beggers.

Re: birds
 

dont have a prob with them,they call my double barrel :Yikes:

Re: birds
 

I have a similar situation, right at the very apex of the house, they have made a nest & return every year.
I once tried looking for them, but as I cannot get to that point without a very long ladder & extra help from someone else I have left it, its quite comforting to nip up in the loft in summer & hear the chirp of new birds....

As for what damage they have done, I have no idea but what the heck, I cant reach it anyway.

Re: birds
 

hmmm thanks for the suggestions.......
they seem to be active now so i was thinking of removing the soffits after easter.
i have a tiled roof but there will be nowhere large enough for the starlings to return to once the soffits are replaced......
i just dont want to turf out nesting birds or chicks if there is a time of the year when thats possible.

Re: birds
 

Some info on nesting starlings can be found Here M8. :)

I see from that article they are decreasing in numbers - there are 0000000's round here. :confused:

Re: birds
 

great link julian
that told me they nest and breed in april and may with a 2 week incubation period for the eggs , so..........
i shall do the soffits at the end of summer when any chicks are old enough to have "flown the coop"............
then its the masonry bees turn for eviction :)