# black bird advice?



## Jacs (Jun 7, 2009)

i did post a thread in the wildlife section but didnt get any replies, so am hoping someone here may have some info for me...

about 3 weeks ago i heard tap tap tapping in the fascia outside my bedroom window realised very quickly it was a bird... could see the bits of nest poking out in a few places, kept a close eye to see if we could see anything coming in or out didnt see anything. however... we have seen said bird... he moved into our loft :O there is a small hole in the bathroom ceiling where a spotlight fell out, and while getting dressed one morning my sister had a peeping tom poke his head through... we are pretty certain its a blackbird, pure black with a bright orange beak, since then we have seen him wandering around the front garden, still not seen him come in or out of the house, altho my sister says she thinks she has heard him popping in and out from behind the drainpipe. also there have been 2 other birds wandering around the garden pretty close to him, but if im honest i have no idea what a female blackbird looks like i will have to try and get photos, they are a brownish colour, but probally about the same size as him.

we also have a hole in the side of the house where the old flue went out, landlord moved it and never filled the hole in, we saw him sat in there saturday morning... and he was pecking out the insulation :/. now as far as im aware it is illegal to remove a nest which is being used for babies (my sister is sure she has heard baby birds) the noise i can deal with just about altho its not very appriciated at 6am on a sunday morning!!! but im worried about, one the fact is ripping insulation out of the wall... and 2 that no doubt its probally wrecking everything in the loft...

i was wondering if anyone has any advice/info at all?? even if its only how we can tell they have moved out so we can close up holes? im clueless as to what to do or when to do it.

sorry its such a long post, wanted to make sure everything i know is posted up so i stand a better chance at getting some advice! 

thanks in advance! xx


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## SilverSteno (Feb 12, 2006)

A blackbird is unlikely to do that much damage to the insulation or in the loft so I wouldn't worry about that. What you do need to do though is find out if there is or they have started building a nest. Once they have started to build a nest it is illegal to remove or block access to it - there doesn't even have to be chicks or eggs in the nest, once work on a nest starts that is it, remove it then you are breaking the law. If there is no nest then it is simply a case of blocking off access, if there is then it will be a case of waiting until the nest is no longer in use. If the blackbird is just gathering insulation from the old flue (it does make a good nesting material in a birds view) then this can just be blocked off, but it may be worth watching him for a while to see where he is going with the material as that could give a clue as to where he is nesting. If he is taking it up to the loft, then work on a nest has probably already started and so you'll have to leave them be. You can seal any holes once the birds have gone bit remember, blackbirds can have multiple broods! If in doubt, leave the blocking up work until late September/early October as there is unlikely to be any nesting at this time.

And yes, the brown birds are probably the female blackblackbirds


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## Jacs (Jun 7, 2009)

thank you , i will have to sit out the front for a bit and see where he is going with the insulation that hes stealing haha the reason we havent blocked that up yet is that there does seem to be a cavity and we arent 100% sure weather thats how hes getting into the loft or not. have seen a female blackbird running around the front garden all day gathering nesting stuff too, always has something in her beak, im gonna guess they have started building the nest, i cant get into the loft myself the only person in the house that can is my dad, and he refuses to go up there knowing there have been and probally still are birds up there! hes a wimp 

im gonna assume that it will probally be best to leave it till september/october then get the landlord to come fill in holes etc to stop them coming back next year.

again thank you for the info  x


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

We have a nesting pair of blackbirds that seem to spend ages in our garden searching for food every year. They're back now foraging around.

I've never encouraged birds into my garden because of my cats,but these 2 come back every year, so I've given up. I just always check the garden first to see if they're around before I let the cats out and if I see them there I put out seed to help them a bit.


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