There's a bird nest in the ceiling fan light on my porch

[happybird]

I’ve pulled it out twice and have now given up. These birds are crazy industrious! I think they are house swallows? They fly out so fast I can’t tell. Last time I removed the nest they had it rebuilt within hours. Now I am afraid to run the fan and disturb them. Sigh. I hope the inevitable babies don’t poop all over my table when they hatch, or that phase is a short one.

[ret5hd]

1. Evictions are suspended during the pandemic!

[happybird]

2. Lol!

[chia]

6. Perfect

[hlthe2b]

8. Perfect response!

[demmiblue]

13. Ha!

[CurtEastPoint]

3. They have chosen to bless you. I hope you can leave them in peace, even if they do poo.

[happybird]

5. Normally I wouldn't mind

but it’s a brand new fan, just put up 2 weeks ago. I don’t know how to get the light dome off, so cleaning it after they leave will be fun.

There was a nest in the carport a couple weeks ago and I had to be careful to park my car in an exact spot so the poop went on the roof and not the windshield. It was a lot of poop, lol! Here’s that bunch watching me get in the car:

[dweller]

9. can't see the bottom of the light in your pic

but there should be a bolt or nut there to remove the cover and it will lower off
maybe next year you should remove it around this time of year for the nesting season, maybe supply a hanging basket fern nearby, they will return most often

they are looking for safety from predators etc

✌🏼

[hlthe2b]

10. These precious babes nested in a wicker hanging basket on my front door a few years ago

?1

Yeah, they left their share of poop on the door, but I still felt blessed when the fledglings flew off, healthy.

A sad epilogue, though. It seems the mating pair came back a year later and while I am unsure what happened or how-- I later found the female inside the house having apparently died in a corner. That soooo upset me, especially hearing her mate singing in the nearby tree each morning for weeks.


Moral of the story is that I think they will return each year. There are some mud swallows who nest in the underpass on top of some lights on the bike trail near my house. This is the third straight year they have nested there and this year's "crop" of fledgling just flew away a few days ago.

I adore nature, but sometimes they are heart-breakers too.

[CurtEastPoint]

11. That X in the circle is a big plastic 'screw' so that's how you remove it.

[Dem2theMax]

15. Bird poop is not good for car paint.

Let it drop on the windshield. Your paint will thank you.

[Bayard]

4. Love Swallows!

Although they've taken out most of our dragonflies this year.

The local Dollar General always has a ton of them nesting in the lights over the sidewalk on the side of the store. They sit up there and turn their heads to eyeball customers coming and going. Very cool.

[dweller]

7. yeh don't run the fan

it could endanger the parents leaving/returning to the nest ...
they'll be gone in short time or a few weeks at most

just watch while you can, you'll hear and see the fledglings when the practice flight ...

✌🏼

[Raven]

12. Put some doggie pads down for the poo. :-)

[Phentex]

14. Our babies left a week ago...

We have a hutch on our screened porch. The dogs have torn the screen doors so the birds find their way in to nest. Last year, my husband kept removing the nest just being a big old meanie. This year, he left it lone and it was amazing. It took some coordination to make sure we didn't let the dogs out when a bird was near. And the parents managed to get the babies out before a dog could eat them. They were so cute!