While the sight of a bird’s nest is usually cute and heart-warming, there are places birds should be nesting, and places they should avoid. Roofing and gutters are places birds should avoid for their own safety; they just don’t understand the danger. So, it’s up to us to regularly clean our gutters and install gutter mesh or a gutter guard that’s made for keeping birds and other animals out. Not only can nesting in roofing be dangerous for birds, but it can also be dangerous for us and end up causing severe damage to our homes. Here’s how to stop birds from blocking gutters by keeping them out of roofing once and for all…
What type of birds nest in roofing?
The main species of birds that you’ll find nesting in gutters and roofing are pigeons, sparrows, starlings and mynas. All of these species are commonly found in the suburbs of Melbourne, and they LOVE to nest in the gutters of both residential homes and larger commercial buildings.
While each species has its own unique way of building nests, they all tend to build with materials that are highly adept at blocking gutters. These materials include leaves, straw, sticks, feathers, mud and other natural debris, as well as the occasional scrap of cloth or other man-made item.
Some nests can grow to become quite large in size as many birds, pigeons in particular, tend to nest in groups. A family of birds living in, or on a roof, is a hazard to their own safety, as well as the safety of human inhabitants.
But it’s not just the nests themselves that block gutters and cause issues…
How do dead birds block gutters?
If a bird is killed by a predator or dies of old age, they may end up entering the gutter system before they pass away. A dead bird in the gutter isn’t sanitary at all, and if left there until a heavy rainfall comes along, can cause significant blockages.
Usually, the bird will lay in the gutter until rainfall washes it down towards the downpipe. A bird carcass is quite a large piece of debris to be flowing down a gutter and will generally get stuck somewhere along the line.
What happens when dead birds block gutters?
When a bird is left in a gutter and washes into the system, it will eventually block the piping and become a barrier, much like a dam, that continues to collect other, smaller pieces of debris like leaves and twigs, often resulting in a much larger blockage than you’d think.
On a flat roof, such as those on a shopping centre, these blockages can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage, even going so far as to cause the roof to cave in completely from the massive pressure of the water that accumulates.
Even if your roof isn’t flat, you’re still at risk of serious damage from water overflowing out of gutters and into your house, or seeping down into the foundations, leading to structural damage. You may get away relatively easy with just a burst gutter, but even that is costly and inconvenient to repair.
How to stop birds blocking gutters
Aside from blocking gutters, wild birds and their nests are not hygienic to have around the home. Mynas, in particular, have been known to carry a range of diseases, some of which can be passed onto humans and pets. Bird lice may also enter the home, causing allergies, hay fever and other irritations. The noise factor can also be super frustrating to deal with. Most birds are active and loud at sunrise. Unless you’re an early riser, you can imagine how annoying a 5am wakeup call would be every day; it happens.
So, it’s best to stop birds blocking your gutters before they can even get in there. At Leafshield we offer premium gutter protection that has been designed to keep out wild birds and other animals, stopping a potential invasion in its tracks. We will assess your home, office, shopping centre, or other building and provide a custom-fit gutter protection solution to suit. We even have gutter protection for box gutters!
Save yourself time, money and stress that may come from dealing with a blocked or broken gutter by giving us a call on 1300 LEAFSHIELD (1300 532 374). You can also visit our contact page to send us a message and we’ll be in touch as soon as we possibly can.
We love seeing birds in their natural habitat, so it’s important to us that we help as many homes and commercial buildings as possible, to keep birds out of roofing and safe in their own environment.
Learn about the different types of leaf guards here!