Swallow Control

Swallows are often a problem or nuisance in suburban areas, as their mud nests damage and deface outer walls/eaves of residences and office buildings. An eye sore and health hazard, swallow droppings from large swallow colonies often end up smeared on buildings and collect on the ground below as well. The mud nests swallows build are a haven for parasites that often work their way into buildings, causing a serious health hazard for the inhabitants.

Removal of swallow nests is important because if the swallow nests are left for long periods, the nests and droppings result in permanent stains on the building, ruining the appearance.

Like other unwanted houseguests, swallows tend to leave undesirable things behind when they depart for their winter migration southward. Removal of swallow nests is important because if left the mud nests are often reinhabited by sparrows looking to take advantage of the free housing. Swallows also leave their insects like fleas and mites, plus bacteria in droppings. Without the swallows these insects often move into the home looking for new hosts -- you!

It's best to treat swallow problems proactively, installing swallow control products before they build their mud nests. If the swallows have already begun to build, swallow nest removal must occur before the swallows lay eggs as swallows are protected migratory birds.

Swallow damage to building owners includes

•  Extra clean up costs from swallow nest and droppings and
•  Concern over slip and fall liability from swallow dropping buildup
•  An unclean, dirty company image

Diseases caused by swallows are a result of bacteria, fungal agents and parasites found in swallow droppings and nests that host serious diseases such as

•  Histoplasmosis
•  Encephalitis
•  Salmonella
•  Meningitis
•  Toxoplasmosis
•  And many more

See our References page for examples of pest bird control products and their installation, use, and maintenance.  Our Products page will give you more detail on each of the items referenced above.

Important Legal Information About Swallow Control Methods:
Because swallows are a protected bird species under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, you cannot disturb their mud nests once they lay their eggs. It is illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take any migratory bird from the nest, eggs, or young of a swallow while it is being built or in use. The Act allows fines or prison sentences for every bird, egg or nest destroyed. Swallow control methods must be in place before the swallows take up residence. If you had a swallow problem previously, odds are they will return to your structure the next year, as they are territorial birds.

Swallow Nest Removal:
Removal of swallow nests must be timed to the swallows' annual migration departure. Swallows and their nests are protected and the nests cannot legally be removed until swallows have migrated south and vacated their nests. Once the swallows have vacated their nests you can safely remove the mud nests. As part of the swallow nest removal process, decontamination of the area is highly recommended to also remove the parasites, ticks, fleas, bedbugs and bacteria that are often living within the swallow nests as well. After decontamination, swallow prevention experts will pressure wash the area to remove the swallow nest and dropping mess, eliminating all traces of the birds, including the smell, which attracts them back the following year to the same place. Once the swallow mess is cleared, swallow prevention products can be installed to prevent the ability to build nests on the structure.

Swallow Prevention Products:
There are many swallow proofing products and methods to prevent swallows from nesting. Many pest control companies use netting, wire, and scare techniques. The use of bird gel and wiring is not only ineffective, it is also unpleasant to the eye. Bird Solutions is a certified BirdSlide™ installer. BirdSlide™  is the most effective swallow control product for prevention of swallows building nests on your facility.

BirdSlide™  is an innovative, flexible, and highly effective product. It is used on ledges and under eaves to prevent birds from roosting and from building their mud nests. When using BirdSlide™ for swallow prevention, the product is installed under eaves to cut off the angle that the swallows utilize to build their structural mud nests. This effectively disables their ability to adhere the mud, and so theyleave the area to find a more suitable nesting place. Our technicians are certified control experts and have extensive training to install this product. Best of all, BirdSlide™ can be painted to blend seamlessly with your building.  You won't have the swallows creating their mess on your building and you won't destroy the overall aesthetics.

Swallow Identification and Behavior:
The barn swallow is noted for its long tail with a deep fork that distinguishes it from the small cliff swallow. The only square-tailed swallow in California, the cliff swallow is also recognized by its pale, orange-brown rump, white forehead, dark rust-colored throat, and steel blue crown and back.

Both the cliff swallow and barn swallow are slender, sleek birds that spend their spring and summers in North America before migrating southward for the winter months. Swallows are territorial birds and they return each year to the same nesting site. These days, modern building structures replace the cliffs of the past for the swallows to build their mud-pellet nests.

Swallows are small birds that are extremely agile in flight and spend most of their time on the wing. Recent declines due to loss of habitat quality in both their breeding and wintering grounds mean they are an Amber List species. Amber List species are those with an unfavorable conservation status in Europe; those whose population or range has declined moderately in recent years; those whose population has declined historically but made a substantial recent recovery; rare breeders; and those with internationally important or localized populations.

Swallows feed on insects, spending much of the day in the air catching flies, beetles, and mosquitoes. Their long, pointed wings are designed to give the swallows great speed and maneuverability to catch the nimble insects. Swallows are generally seen in the air and not on the ground, except when collecting mud for their nests. Swallows are not considered songbirds as their vocalizations are generally a twitter or squeak.

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