To get rid of (dirty) birds nesting in chimney?

[bbsamsmam]

I don't know if this is AIBU but couldn't find an animal welfare topic lol only wanting some advise about nesting birds as it's getting a bit of a joke now, if anyone feels I'm overreacting put yourself in the shoes of a 7 month pregnant stay at home mum with a hormone induced short fuse lol

We live on a nice lane with houses one side and a farm/field/trees the other, while we have all block paving all neighbours have hedges/trees so we're not stranger to wildlife, before anyone starts to have a go about my question I like having a lot of wildlife for DS to look at through the windows and in the hedges.
We usually have a birds nest is the side of the house which has never really bothered me before but this year they've moved to the chimney and the buggers are so dirty! I won't let DS play outside in the yard until I've had chance to do a thorough disinfection outside to get rid of all the crap (literally) off the toys, furniture and floor, which again isn't that big of a deal as once a week DH jet washes and cleans outside anyway so it's just really one more going over a week but what does bother me is all the rubbish they're dropping! Mouldy bread, food, what looks like splats of regurgitated food, and yesterday I came home after cleaning outside then nipping to the supermarket and thought someone had thrown a quiche at my back patio doors... then clicked - it was the birds! Looked at the baby's play area and lo and behold more quiche... everywhere. It's not even our rubbish as all our bins have lids on and we don't like quiche lol.

I called my dad (a roofer) and said he needs to come down and get rid of the birds, he said I can't just get rid of the chicks and I said watch me!! Since have calmed about it but don't know what to do about them? Honestly don't want to move the nest and hurt or kill the chicks but I'm at my wits end with it! How long til they bloody fly the nest?!

Any suggestions please?

The breeding season for Jackdaw's is April - July.

They only have one brood so if they lay early in April incubation takes 20 days. The nestlings then fledge at 32 - 33 days, so the first weeks of June would be when you would see the Juveniles.

If they were late breeders in July then the nestlings would fledge late August early September.

Put the food at the bottom of the garden away from the toys!

If you start feeding, they may just invite more of their pals along.

Do birds work like that? I wondered but I think jackdaws are quite aggressive . They may fight others off ? Or you could b right and I have just encouraged op to turn her garden into Trafalgar square

They're social birds, you often see quite a few together.

Haha Trafalgar Square haha Oh please don't let me do that 😂 I can just imagine I'll end up a crazy bird lady!!

OP I feel for you. We had birds nesting in our chimneys when I was a child, and one night a youngster fell from the nest and landed in the fireplace in my parents' bedroom, where it promptly started to fly around.

Unfortunately my mum has an absolute phobia of birds, and in particular has a superstition that a bird in the house means someone will die. 😟 This isn't helped by the fact she lost one of my siblings after a bird flew in the house.

She went into such panicked madness that I thought I was having a heart attack from her screaming (was about 11 at the time). My dad had to kill the bird with a tennis racket. 😱

That reminds me, block up the bottom of the chimney if it isn't already, to stop birds and detritus coming down.

Argh! I feel your pain. Must confess we have a bird guard as our chimneys have a weird run and some are blocked up. I always know if a bird has got in as cat starts sitting by the downstairs chimney breast and staring intently!

Did he really have to kill the bird with a tennis racquet? Was it too little to survive? Your poor mum and the poor bird.

You need to get professional advice from a reputable pest control firm. They deal with nuisance birds generally (not just the usual suspects like feral pigeons). The firm will take responsibility for removing the nest at the appropriate time - there may be legal considerations if there are fledglings - and will, as far as practicable, bird-proof the nesting site in question to prevent repeat residencies.

I've just had feral pigeons evicted from behind a soffit in my block of flats. As a matter of fact, the youngsters had fledged and the parents had also moved on by the time the PC came. We are now pigeon proof !

Good luck.