How can I get rid of barns swallows that insist on living above my back door.

Question

I have 4 barnswallows that insist on sleeping above my back door on the ledge. They are messy and need to move on. I don't want to poison them just want to figure out what will cause them to not want to sleep there.

Answer 1

You can try some iridescent ribbon for wrapping birthday presents. Tack it up and it should scare them away; my old landlord was a farmer and he used something very similar in order to keep birds out of his fruit trees, and it worked like a charm.

Answer 2

   Finally, something I know about. I had this problem about two months ago. My neighbor is a wonderful organic tree hugger had me wear gloves to remove the nest and put it some place high if possible. Or discard it where they cant find any of it. Wash their sleeping area with a light bleach solution, Then leave scraping of  get this....Irish Spring Soap in the area. I haven't had them back since. Not sure if your in the city or country, but it worked for me.

Answer 3

ITS REALLY BAD LUCK TO DESTORY SWALLOWS NESTS.PLEASE DONT DO IT, BAD LUCK MIGHT FOLLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

You can't poison them, this would be against the law..you can be fined or jailed for harming, harassing, or killing ANY wild native bird...all are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  Sounds like you need to block off this area with a screen or some sort of mesh so that they cannot access it.  This is a simple solution to the alternative of being cruel AND breaking the law.  

Answer 5

If they start to make a nest just knock it down. They'll give up eventually. You could also cover the ledge with aluminum foil to scare them away.