AIBU to ask the housing association to remove birds from my wall? And if I'm not BU, how can I make them do it?

[BirdwomanofAlcatraz]

There are birds in the outside wall of my bedroom. I first became aware a couple of weeks ago when I heard them scratting around in the early morning and saw them flying back and forwards, also that there is bird poo on the inside of my window.

I phoned the housing association and told them but they knocked me back on four fronts: 1) that they don't believe the birds are in the walls, I need to have footage of them going in and out of the wall (I'm on the third floor, they're quick, I've tried standing outside with my phone and pressing record but they're too quick for me, really I stood there for a long time like a crazy person but it's split second movements when they go in and out)
2) that the marks on the window are just marks. They're not just marks. It's actual bird poo dropping down the window on the inside
3) that there's a pandemic on. Yes I know this but this is an infestation and I am concerned if fleas etc are also dropping down the window
4) the birds are probably in the eaves. Well if they were I wouldn't be concerned, but they're not. They're in the space directly above my window. I have seen them with my own eyes going in and out and so have my neighbours. There is a gap in the wall that they're getting in and out of.

What can I do? I've submitted a complaint after they dismissed my request for maintenance but not heard anything. As far as I know landlords do still have a duty to ensure their properties are not infested, even at this time. I pay my rent every month and haven't asked for a repair before. This is driving me crazy.

What a timely thread. I have had something in my bedroom wall for the 9 years I have lived in my house, it is difficult to explain the layout but the bedroom wall is the original external wall and then we have an extension. Because the house is old (1450's) the bedroom has a vaulted ceiling with the original timber frame so there is no roof space. I have for years had to assume that the scuttling noise was actually coming from the roof and was birds but I could always her something coming in from one corner and it would move throughout the wall space. Finally worked it out at the weekend! Just under the soffits (I think that's what they are called) there is a perfect hole whicl allows birds in at the corner I can hear them and you can see a long channel running behind my bedroom wall! Fascinating to have found the answer and I now know for definite I am not going mad and it is actually birds in the wall rather than on the roof.. Sorry this doesn't help the OP though!

If your not opening the window, just clingfilm it and sellotape the edges

Used to have to do that in my old rental to stop drafts.

Honestly your so fucking angry at the birds just trying to raise a family

If they are shitting through the vent why can you not put a sheet of plastic over the vent and tape it? If there's a hole why can't you stuff it with newspaper or a black rubbish sack and tape it?

Having a tantrum and being rude to people on here will achieve nothing.

Yeah you know, I was a lot less stressed before I came on here. Prior to that the only problem was the birds. Now it's birds and a load of God knows what kind of people getting their amusement from acting like pricks to someone asking for advice. Good luck to Mumsnet asking posters for money to get this kind of treatment - bad enough when it's free.

You are cross because nobody had told you you are right.

This means you are being unreasonable.

I'm sorry you didn't get the answer you wanted but if you post in AIBU you will be told if you are being it not.

You aren't being realistic and are lashing out at and bring downright rude to people who disagree and even to the many who tried to offer you sensible advice.

Not surprisingly it's not enamoured you to other posters.

I find LostDesire's comments on this thread chilling.

Killing animals is surely a last resort for when no other practical solution is available. Even then, you'd be looking at any humane options. The fact that some animals are killed because no such alternatives exist doesn't provide some sort of licence to kill others.

I can't comprehend the mentality that finds suffocating birds to death an acceptable alternative to trying your hardest to prevent the crap coming in - or even just cleaning it up - let alone a source of amusement.

You’ve had quite a lot of good advice!

You could spend some time watching the birds and marvelling at nature.I'm currently watching a nest of young starlings outside my kitchen in the eaves of the house. Birds can't be killed just because you're inconvenienced.

Ulver - I said if bird poo is coming in, other things could too, fleas for example. I did not suggest that fleas were present in bird faeces.

Griselda1 - I'm sure the OP is happy to "marvel at nature" at appropriate times and when she isn't being sleep deprived by noises in her walls and excrement on the inside of her windows!

OP's thread didn't start with "I want to bash their feathery little heads in with a brick", did it? Admittedly, I may have missed some suggestions on the thread but many of the suggestions I've seen have been "calm down" "enjoy the birds!" and "isn't nature wonderful?"

I do think if the OP had rats, the responses would be different. Although who knows.

Just replace the sound of scratting birds with the sound of anything that's causing you to have to leave your bedroom and lose sleep and then see how blithe you are!

I do think if the OP had rats, the responses would be different

Again....
Well, obviously 🤷🏻 Mice and rats would actually come inside. Birds don't... Also mice and rats are not likely to be on amber or red conservation status.

@BirdwomanofAlcatraz

Some posters on this thread are vile.

The OP has a valid EH complaint. She needs help in establishing how to deal with her landlord about it.

I don't blame her for calling some of you wankers, because you have been.

OP - keep on at the LL and contact EH. Being quarantined is hard enough, but when you factor in children with allergies (Not to mention the bereavements I can see you'd be at the end of your tether).

It's not acceptable that you now can't use one of your bedrooms because of this. It may be that the window can be repaired with new seals etc and then the vents temprarily blocked.

Good luck.

*temporarily

I do think if the OP had rats, the responses would be different.

Yes, because rats are not birds. The associated health problems are different.

OMGThereAreNoPlanes - maybe, but there's no harm in expressing empathy at her situation, is there? Imagining how awful it would be to be in that situation?. Maybe it will turn out that there's not much to be done at the moment, practically, but would it be so hard to offer a kind, empathic word of support?

Some people on this thread have been so needlessly unpleasant to someone who is quite clearly at the end of her tether.

If the nesting birds are proven to be a health & safety risk then the landlord would need to apply for a licence to remove the nest & birds, probably from Natural England.
It would probably require Environmental Health and the Housing Association to work together to assess the level of risk and go through the proper procedures.
Bird faeces can carry pathogens such as E Coli.

Bird faeces can spread disease. Bird mites can bite. If faeces is getting in, it stands to reason bird mites could also get into the property.

I've had this before the baby's eventually left and we got it sealed up. Not a big deal. Certainly not one an emergency.

Some posters on here seem to enjoy being deliberately obtuse about he issue. The OP has already stated her situation with her children. Birds shitting and having their debris enter the home is not without risks.

Try some double sided tape and plastic to stop it coming in. The tape I have is a pain to remove so should be strong enough to hold until the chicks have fledged.

Then try getting someone to fix the faulty window etc.

You have had a lot of suggestions to try to help, regardless of what kind of home you have they would be the same.

Birds shitting and having their debris enter the home is not without risks.

That's why people said to block the vent for now. Let's be realistic here... There is NOTHING else to do NOW. No one will come out. No one will move the nest. No one will magically sort it right now. Only thing that can be done is to block the vent until it can be sorted. That's it.

If the nesting birds are proven to be a health & safety risk then the landlord would need to apply for a licence to remove the nest & birds, probably from Natural England.It would probably require Environmental Health and the Housing Association to work together to assess the level of risk and go through the proper procedures.

Or, more likely, they would just recommend taping up the vent.

Some people on this thread have been so needlessly unpleasant to someone who is quite clearly at the end of her tether.

The OP was aggressive and told people to Fuck Off etc.
You didn’t read the whole thread and comments got deleted.
She won’t accept any advice given and is demanding that the landlord do what she wants now despite the fact that it is illegal unless they apply for an exception, ( which takes time) and will probably require scaffolding as she’s on the third floor ( which takes time to organise).
If she wants help irl and is equally aggressive I doubt anyone will be willing. I’m sorry about her circumstances but we are all in lockdown atm she’s not an exception and it’s not an excuse to be excessively aggressive for no reason.
People have suggested temporary solutions until another permanent one can be arranged.

MrEzraGoldberg

Ulver - I said if bird poo is coming in, other things could too, fleas for example. I did not suggest that fleas were present in bird faeces.

You didn’t, the OP did.

You came in this thread without reading it all or realising that the OP had told people to fuck off, called them wankers, said they were jealous 👀, made assumptions about her status and rent etc, basically a paranoid aggressive rant.
Then when called out on it suddenly added details of bereavement and allergies.
Yes her circumstances are not great by the sounds of it but neither is everyone else’s including the people offering advice on here or those who are running HO repairs phone lines or the people doing them. They are notoriously slow and reluctant to send out people at the best of times and are not going to rush over anytime soon as they have made clear. We are all in the middle of a lockdown and being rude and aggressive and then acting victimised is not going to gain her sympathy from me.
I offered practical advice which is obviously a waste of time.

but this a load of crap about bird laws and sellotape yy it's absurd!

No one said sellotape, there are hundreds of industrial tapes that can be bought that are waterproof.
But where would be the drama in that.
OP I hope your kids are ok because you sound very stressed and melodramatic.