How To Get Rid Of Swallows

Swallow Control 1-888-488-7720

Swallows, or martins, are slender, sleek, colorful birds. They are beautiful in nature, but a terrible nuisance when they make their nests on homes or other buildings. Swallow nests are made of mud and can be found attached to brick, stucco, or wood siding. They are particularly problematic when the birds set up house in large numbers; their populations can double or even triple in a single year! It doesn't take long before your building feels like a bird sanctuary. Mud nests begin as many little balls of mud stuck on a vertical surface such as an exterior wall. They will be located up near the top where the wall meets with the soffit at a 90 degree angle, and eventually the nest will be anchored to both surfaces. The birds roost on the little mud wads and sleep there at night, then awake the next morning to add to them and keep building. The nest grows to the size of a softball or grapefruit with a cup-shaped hole at the top. Working the mud with their beaks and feet, the birds close up the top until there is only a small entrance. Sometimes people try to hose the mud nests down, but the nests are built right back up in three days or so. Muddy nests damage and deface or stain whatever surface they are built upon, plus the area below becomes dirty and dangerous because of all the droppings and urine. Feces can extend down walls and cover the ground beneath nest sites. When the infestation is near a walkway, there is concern for slip and fall liability. The fecal bacteria can contain histoplasmosis, salmonella, meningitis, and other diseases.

How to know if your pest birds are swallows:

• Mud nests or dabs of mud on exterior walls or eaves

• Birds roosting on the mud balls at night

• Nests are located at the top of an exterior wall where it meets the soffit at a 90 degree angle; nests anchored to both surfaces.

• Softball-size nests in a cup shape, or closed with only a small opening

• Droppings down the wall and on the ground below

• Birds have square tails or deeply forked tails

• Birds fly in a darting pattern similar to bats, quickly and frequently changing direction left, right, up and down

• Birds are rusty colored, white, or blue

• Bed bugs or conenose bugs inside the building: in beds, outlets, or behind wall art

• Near lowlands, marshlands, rivers, ponds, or muddy areas. These are sources for water, mud and insects.

• Often found nesting under bridges

Swallows eat enormous quantities of insects which controls bug populations and is beneficial to people and to the environment. However, there is an irritating, biting bug that these birds bring along with them wherever they go: swallow bugs. These blood-sucking conenose bugs live on the bodies of birds and feed on their hosts' blood. Wherever swallow infestations are found, insect extermination is usually necessary because these bugs will get into the building and multiply rapidly. Swallow bugs are similar to bed bugs, and they will bite like fleas. Our technicians can remove the birds and the conenose bugs, too.

To schedule an inspection call Allstate Bird Control:

As migratory birds, swallows are federally protected. This means that it is illegal to trap them or to remove their nests when eggs or chicks are present. However, there are other tricks of the trade that our wildlife control operators can utilize to help you get rid of swallows.

What Allstate Bird Control can do:

• Apply a unique 5-part repellent mixture--very effective!

• Install slip brackets at nesting sites, similar to exterior painted crown moulding

• Remove nests when no baby swallows are present

• Clean up waste, droppings, urine

• Decontaminate and deodorize

• Administer insect control for pest bugs that come with birds

Our 5-part repellent mix is a specialty treatment that we spray onto affected areas of a building while the birds are absent. When they return they are immediately and visibly repulsed by it. This method does not harm the birds in any way; it simply persuades the birds to go find a better nesting site somewhere else. This technique is highly effective.

Slip brackets, or slick brackets are similar in appearance to crown moulding. Our technicians remove the nests when legal, then install slick brackets in their place. After this structural modification is complete, we paint the brackets to match. When the birds return the next year as part of their migration pattern, they will not be able to find a place to roost. Sometimes they return two years before they successfully develop different habits. It is always best to repel early because then the birds have time in the same season to find a new place to build their nests and begin adjusting their behavioral patterns. This process must be done when no chicks or eggs are in the nests.

Not only do our pest bird removal technicians get rid of the swallows, we also remove the nests, clean up the droppings and mess, sanitize, deodorize, and take measures to prevent them from coming back. We also apply treatments to exterminate the conenose bugs and mites that likely came with the birds to your home or business. All our methods are humane and legal.

Don't put up with nuisance birds any longer! Give Allstate Bird Control a call:

If you prefer to take care of the situation yourself, consider our expert coaching services. For a fee, an experienced bird control professional will walk you through the steps to do the job right, and we can ship products to you as needed. You may also send us 5 to 10 digital pictures of your problem, and our experts will provide you with a FREE telephone consultation, including a plan for action and a cost estimate.

Swallows are also called mud swallows, barn swallows, or cliff swallows. To learn more about these birds and Allstate's bird control methods, read our Swallow FAQ. We accept Visa and MasterCard. We also take purchase orders and cash.