We have barn swallows that come back every year .They made a home for themselves on the roof under our porch. . It was safe because no other bird would go on our porch. Very messy though & I took away our chairs& put a cardboard box for dropping All my friends thought we where nuts The first year we had them I had put out a decorative bird house ( not meant to be used as a bird house). It did have a flat roof & to our surprise 2 barn swallows build their mud nest ON TOP of the bird house .A chimney made a good roost at night .Its the stangest place I have heard of for nests. The first year they had 2 baby's then 2 years ago 4. They would sit on the railing & sometimes dive bomb us when we sat our there but finally they did get used to us Then last year ,no birds .I do know they fly a long way in winter so thought something happened to them so I tore down the nest & threw out the bird house .This year I put a smaller bird house up & sure enough a swallow found our porch ..I think it may have been one of the baby's from the previous years . It was so funny to watch this male trying to get a mate. For over a month he screamed out to every swallow that went by & even tried to build the bottom of the nest.. FInally he had luck Now these 2 are more scared of us so we try to stay off the porch.as much as possible. Also nest was small .They layed 2 eggs but one day I found a broken one on the ground .Anyone know if this is normal??? One baby was born & he hung around for a week after parents left but yesterday the parents came back overnight to the nest & he finally flew of with them .. WE WILL MISS THEM.. HOPE WE GET THEM NEXT YEAR Don't need bug spay our swallows are great hunters

One time I had my shed open and a pair went in and out investigating it, me standing only a couple of feet away. It was too bad that I had to lock up the shed because it's away from home. It seems a building is always preferred with a window or door only 12" open or so. Sometimes they build the nest on the side of wooden beam, perhaps with a nail head sticking out?? We also used to nail a small wooden board under the beam and Swallows built nest on top. Konrad

I just stumbled upon this post as I try to prevent the recurring problems from Barn Swallows again this year. Unfortunately, the image is no longer available and I cannot see how you hung the netting. We have a colony of Barn Swallows that roost at our apartment building each year. The landlord hates them, but a former tenant had posted signs everywhere about how it was illegal to remove the nests. It was only through my own research that I realized it was only illegal while eggs or babies were in the nests, and those tenants moved out this winter. In addition to nesting on top of our buildings lights, covered walkways, and eaves, my apartment and the one next door have outdoor entrances from our gorgeous courtyard and patio which have covered stairwells. Each year, the swallows fly through these two stairwells like its the Lincoln Tunnel, dive bombing anyone who tries to walk on the stairs. They build their nests on the outlet boxes or porch lights. The first summer we lived here, I thought it was really neat to have such a close view of their lives, as I would often sit on my steps and could watch the babies as they grew, taking great care to be quiet and non-threatening. However, I also found that my porch steps and exterior wall were covered with bird droppings. They are also very very noisy when there is an entire colony of them outside of your windows. All of the "teenage" birds hang out in one of our courtyard trees outside of my window, which my cat loves but can actually drown out any conversation or television in our living room. Then I experienced what I thought were bed bugs in our house. I had tiny bites head to toe and could constantly feel them crawling on me despite rarely being able to see anything. It got so bad that I was getting the bites infected from itching all the time, and I couldn't sleep because I could feel the bugs crawling on my skin as soon as I tried to relax. I finally captured a few and took them to the University's Department of Entymology, who identified them as bird mites. That experience was HORRIFIC. I was ready to burn our entire building down after reading that the bird mites multiply much more quickly than bed bugs and are nearly impossible to remove. Luckily, the mites died off when the birds finally left for the season, but I can no longer sit outside on my wooden stairs because I fear contracting them again. The next spring, I tried the knock-down method, just on my own stairwell. I would open my screen door 2 inches and use a broom handle to knock down the nests up to 7 times a day. The swallows became very agitated, and and two attacked my daughter's head when she got home from school one of the days. I couldn't sit inside and repeat this process forever, though, and they got their nest up one day while I was off at a 12 hour work shift. The outlet covers they use are too high up to see into, and I knew that some other nests already had eggs, so I couldn't knock it down, more out of compassion than fear of charges. This will be our third summer here. Our elderly landlord has given up trying to prevent them from nesting even in the building entryways. I have removed my porch light cover so there is no solid surface to nest on, but the outlet box cover is too high up and I can't put a ladder on the stairs to reach it. I have considered trying to throw a cotton ball soaked with peppermint oil up there (it has worked in the past for mice and spider problems), or hanging a bunch of cut aluminum as a mobile at the top of the steps (I have heard that the reflections off the metal scare birds off), but I simply can't go through another year of this if those methods don't work. I saw that I could use something to create a 45% slope where the nest to prevent them, but again... getting up there is an issue. I am curious to see how you used the mesh. Could you please share the picture again?

These cute little birds are growing so quickly! My concern is that another poster said that they return to the same nest, after fledging, to live for the next few months. Do you think that they will be able to safely find another place to live if we have to take down their nest, for our house project, after they have the ability to fly? Thanks to anyone who can help us make the right decisions!