How to Stop Swallows Nesting on Your House (8 Effective Ways)

Swallow Nest with Baby Birds Attached to Roof

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Though swallows are cute, fuzzy critters, they can wreck a lot of havoc to the outside of your home with mud nests and droppings. If swallows are trying to call your house home, How to stop Swallow nesting on your house. You can deter them from doing any more damage by using one of the following techniques:

  • Covering areas with nesting shields
  • Using electronic sound pieces
  • Installing ultrasonic deterrents
  • Installing bird spikes
  • Placing a plastic owl in the area
  • Spraying bird deterrent
  • Hanging up bird netting
  • Keeping everything clean

To learn more about preventing swallows from nesting in your house, keep reading. We provide the 8 most effective techniques that many others have used in the same endeavor.

8 Ways to Stop Swallows From Nesting On Your House  

1. Cover Areas with Nesting Shield

How to Stop Swallows Nesting on Your House (8 Effective Ways) 1
Baby Swallows in Nest Attached to Home

Swallow nesting shields are some of the most effective tools for deterring swallows. Swallow nesting shields include a piece of plastic that attaches directly to your home.

Microfilaments hang off the plastic and annoy the birds, which is why they are so effective.

You should hang swallow nesting shields in areas where swallows frequent. Doorways, entryways, and other openings are the best locations to hang them up.

2. Use Electronic Sound Pieces

Swallows have many predators. By using electronic sound pieces with prerecorded predator sounds, you can keep many swallows away from your home. This will stop swallows nesting in your house.

It works because the bird will assume that the area is not safe and move elsewhere.

Of course, you will have to listen to the sounds as well. These sounds may be a bit annoying if turned all the way up, but it shouldn’t bother you much if you are inside your home while it is turned on.

3. Install Ultrasonic Deterrents

Another auditory tool for keeping swallows away is an ultrasonic deterrent. These deterrents are very small and unobtrusive.

Instead of emitting sounds of the swallow’s natural predators, it emits high-pitched noises whenever motion is detected.

Even though the thought of this device is enough to give you a headache, you don’t have to worry about getting a headache.

Most of the sounds are normally too high to be heard by humans, though a couple is audible to human ears. Just make sure you get a device with sounds not audible to humans.

4. Install Bird Spikes

Swallow bird spikes are similar to the nesting shields but in reverse. Instead of the microfilaments dangling in the air, the spikes stick up, preventing the swallow from perching.

Even though these spikes don’t outright prevent nesting, they discourage the bird from perching, which then causes them to look elsewhere for a nesting location.

You don’t have to worry about the spikes hurting the birds, though. They are not sharp enough to cause any damage.

Instead, they are just a nuisance that prevents the bird from perching and hanging out in the area, which then discourages nesting.

5. Place a Plastic Owl in The Area

Owls are one of the most common predators of swallows. As a result, swallows are scared of owls and stay away from areas where they have seen owls.

If you put up a plastic owl around your home, swallows will think twice before coming back.

Better yet, get a plastic owl that is motion-activated.

If the swallow gets within a certain radius of the owl, it will start making owl sounds. These sounds will solidify the area as being dangerous for swallows.

6. Spray Bird Deterrent

If you have a garden you want to protect from swallows and other birds, you might want to try a spray deterrent. Many birds hate the smell of methyl anthranilate, but it just smells like grape juice to most humans.

Because the smell irritates the birds’ noses, it keeps them away from your home and garden.

You don’t have to worry about the toxins harming the birds, animals, or even humans in the area either.

Bird spray deterrent is completely safe because it is a derivative of concord grapes. It just doesn’t smell pleasant to swallows!

7. Hang Up Bird Netting

Bird netting is another highly effective way to prevent swallows from nesting. Simply put the netting around areas swallows frequent, and they will no longer have access to the area.

Without access to the area, it is impossible for the swallows to build nests.

Bird netting can also deter other flying animals, like different birds and bats.

You just have to know where to put the netting in order to deter all of these animals. As for the swallow deterrent, mainly put the net around entryways.

8. Keep Everything Clean

Swallows don’t flock to dirty areas, but they will come back to houses they have nested on in the past. If you leave old swallow mud nests in place, the swallows are more likely to come back.

Always remove swallow nests as soon as you see them. That discourages any more swallows from coming back.

Keep in mind that you might need to clean off the nests frequently. Some swallows will be persistent and make a new nest as soon as you clean the new one.

Before cleaning, double-check with local regulations concerning bird nest removal. Some areas require you to have a permit before removing any bird nests.

Conclusion  

Getting rid of swallows may feel like an impossible task, but you can do it with the right tools. By following one of the tips above, you can prevent swallows from nesting in your home.

Better yet, try multiple of the techniques to ensure the birds don’t come back.

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