March is just around the corner, which means birds are about to start building nests and laying eggs. Many birds are fine living in trees, but others prefer cavities or look for more secure dwellings, such as your gutters, vents, etc. Allow our Maryland bird removal specialists to show you how you can keep the nuisance birds away this spring. But first let’s go over why this is even necessary.
Why Nesting Birds Can Be Dangerous
When a bird like a sparrow or a starling builds a nest, it gathers twigs, leaves, feathers and other materials in can find. Now imagine if these twigs and leaves are stuffed inside your dryer vent. This will restrict the airflow and may even cause your appliance to overheat and break down. In rare cases, clogged dryer vents may result in a fire, especially if the vent was already packed with lint which is extremely flammable.
How to Keep Birds out of Vents
The first thing you need to do is inspect the exterior of your home. Look inside the vents, such appliance and plumbing vents on the roof or the side of your house. Also check the tops of gutters and downspouts as well as your attic. If you find a nest, it could be one left from last year or it may be newly built. Either way, now you know where birds are likely to be a problem. Once you determine that there are no birds present in a particular vent, it’s time to install a vent cover. There are plenty of commercial vent covers available in stores and online, or you could use a wire mesh.
Signs of Nesting Birds
If you didn’t take any of the precautions and now you think you may have bird nests in your vents, here are a few ways to confirm. Leave your bedroom window open overnight and see if you get woken up early in the morning by birds. If you have birds in vents or gutters, right after sunrise you would hear tweeting, as well as scratching noises. The sound of bird nails clutching to the metal gutters is hard to miss. But what if the birds are mostly quiet and you can’t tell for sure whether you got a problem or not? Walk around the outside of your house and visually inspect the vents. Look for any nesting materials sticking out of vents or bird poop on the ground under the vent. Need help getting rid of nuisance birds? Give Mid-Atlantic Wildlife Control a call today for bird removal in Maryland!