Blackbirds ruining our life

[Fourandtwentyblackbirdsinmypie]

Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration there, but really.
We've lived in this house for 3 years now, and blackbirds nest in the roof.
All. Year. Round.
Their gap seems to be directly above our bedroom window, meaning we can hear them all night scratching and moving about

In the morning, if we open the bedroom window they find this makes a useful perch for them to access their nest.

THEY ARE SO NOISY!

One nest a year wouldn't be an issue, but blackbirds dont ever leave their nests. The female and the offspring do, but the Male stays until he finds a new female. Then it starts all over again.

Is there any way we can get rid of them?

Our cat has brought 5 in in the past year and a bit, they still think it's a safe place to nest.

I know you cant move birds nests but are there any exceptions to this?! I'd love to have our bedroom window open this summer...

OP, can you request your landlord books in a roofer for the autumn to block up the holes?

I used something called a gutter hedgehog which got rid of ours. It might have been lucky that it bridged the gap they had got through but a low cost solution to try.

Try kookaburras on your bedroom windowsill.

I only put YABU as there are babies there right now but I get it must be annoying . I did lol at the using the window as a perch , soz .

I think what @Kerlassic suggested is an ideal solution for yourself and the birds.

Last year's picture looks like a youngish make blackbird that's got its black feathers (they are brown at first) but hasn't yet got its bright yellow beak. The picture from this year looks more like a starling.

Kookaburras must be a nightmare!!

We have Jackdaws in our chimneys.
I'm not keen on Jackdaws, but I don't mind the noise.

I'd love to have something prettier nesting up there.

I can’t believe the people who have voted YABU and those that actually would welcome them?! You have obviously never had them nesting in your roof, above your bedroom, and has to put up with the noise from early hours and subsequent disturbed sleep.

We’ve had starlings for the last 5 years and, even as I type, I can hear them and it’s driving me insane! Last year with a newborn was fun...

It’s not just pretty birdsong to wake up to, it literally sounds as if there’s a construction company working and scraping away on your loft. From February to [at least] May.

We have blackbirds in our hedge. After I'd dug over a bit of flowerbed the other day, I saw Mr Blackbird with his beak so full of worms that it looked like he had a gobfull of spaghetti.

He's got so used to us being about since lockdown that he's got really bold. He'll sit on the wall just a few feet away when I'm hanging out washing, and watch me.

Not as bold as the robins though. One of them was perched on the back door step while I was making a cuppa in the kitchen the other day, just sat and watched me, the cheeky fucker.

I have jackdaws on my roof and they sound like they're coming through the ceiling sometimes, but I don't mind them most of the time. I think with a newborn I would go mental tho .

My poor friend had rats in her loft ..she got a rat man out to them ..they were poisoned and left to rot ,for 6 weeks her house utterly stank

We have starlings!!! They love our house just find a different nesting site once we block an old one up. We’ve had them in the loft 3 or 4 times as they keep getting in, but also in our redundant chimney breast and behind our bath!! They’re currently in the guttering above our bedroom window. Noisy and aggressive and a complete pain in the arse. We’re very bird friendly though so that doesn’t help!

I put YABU but only whilst they are nesting

Oh and for your info, @UserFriendly14 I do have birds nesting right now Starlings . As they nest yearly in my guttering

I used to love feeding the birds and then my cat who had never hunted before, decided she liked a bird supper

We moved and since then, she’s been mostly indoors, but there are so many cats around here that I dare not feed them in case they get hunted

I've had Starlings nesting in the bedroom wall where an old water tank overflow was taken out by workmen but they left the hole typical council workmen

Bit noisy at sunrise, but I didn't have the slightest difficulty getting up. Better than an alarm clock.

They got to stay as long as they wanted.

If it wasn't for the fact that my current house would be too hot to have the things due to it getting full sun from dawn to about 6pm on the walls we can access, I'd happily have nesting boxes under the eaves for Swifts, House Martins and wherever appropriate for Sparrows, Bats or anything else - already got bee colonies, Wrens and whatnot in the garden, after all.

I can’t believe the people who have voted YABU and those that actually would welcome them?! You have obviously never had them nesting in your roof, above your bedroom, and has to put up with the noise from early hours and subsequent disturbed sleep.

We’ve had starlings for the last 5 years and, even as I type, I can hear them and it’s driving me insane! Last year with a newborn was fun...

It’s not just pretty birdsong to wake up to, it literally sounds as if there’s a construction company working and scraping away on your loft. From February to [at least] May.

YES YES YES Userfriedly glad it’s not just me! They’re horrid! I wonder if that’s what op has as blackbirds are lovely. We live semi-rurally and have multiple nesting boxes and feeders etc, and actively encourage wildlife of all kinds. Our garden is a haven for all kinds of creatures but the effing starlings can do one!

Bells won't make much difference when it comes to blackbird young, they fledge on the ground and hide in bushes until they get better at flying. They are the only birds my useless fat cat has ever managed to catch (we usually lock him in when we know they are out there)

YABU. Blackbirds or whatever they are have probably been in that territory for longer than you. I am constantly chasing other people's cats from my garden trying to get at the birds so chances are the ones being brought in aren't from your garden.

Going off ops subject a sec, but so happy to hear so many bird lovers.
We have a small garden but 3 x nest boxes up, Bluetits in a silver bitch nest box, half way up tree, for last 3 years. Its wonderful.
Other boxes have never been nested in, so will relocate at some point.
I even buy live mealworms to feed our Robins and tits, Robin in particular actually comes down and doesn't leave me alone until I get the mealworms. I am fully guilt tripped by said Robin.
Way to feed birds safely from cats is to put the feeders next to lots of trees, with plenty of perch places that they can escape to if needed.
Jealous of anyone who have starlings near by, the only place I see few starlings is my local sainsbury car park!
Ive been known to drive to the car park just to see them!

Your photo of the bird on the guttering did make me think "starling" rather than blackbird, although your rescued bird from the previous year was definitely a blackbird. It's HIGHLY unusual for a blackbird to nest in eaves though, they do seem to have preference for nearer the ground.

I looked into buying a blackbird nest box recently as one of our pairs nested in the privet and ivy hedge previously (not this year, I think some dunnocks have moved in there instead) but the young ones were pulled out of the nest by some magpies. I had been concerned for them nesting there as our cat is a hunter but ultimately it was a different predator that got them in the end. I thought a nest box would be safer for them, but blackbirds prefer nest boxes that have a large opening at the front. So no good against magpies (or cats!) and indicating that blackbirds are not at all likely to nest in eaves with a small entrance hole.

(We have house sparrows nesting in our eaves but it's over the bathroom and nobody's disturbed fortunately. But House Sparrows using the house and Hedge Sparrows using the hedge - sweet!)

I've seen people put plastic bags in the top of their windows so they flap about in the breeze to stop house martins nesting under the gutters above their windows. You could try that next year.

Why would you want to stop house martins, they are fantastic birds and endangered.

I love starlings, but I don’t think I’d want them in my eaves. We have lots in the garden, though. Here is “Starling Bathtime” today 💕

Why would you want to stop house martins, they are fantastic birds and endangered.

You wouldn't want them crapping all down your upstair windows so the bags encourage them to nest away from the windows.