No doubt you’ve glanced up at your roof on a sunny day this Springtime and noticed a jackdaw or other bird (a stork?!) keeping busy at the top of your chimney.
It can warm the heart to see a bird seemingly feathering its nest so close to home… your home, in fact.
Yet even the most avid twitcher can’t deny the fact that it’s really not in the bird’s best interest to create a nest at the top of your flue.

It’s difficult to get that message across to these birds. There’s a lot of them – nearly one-and-a-half million Jackdaws in the UK – and that’s not counting other species who love making homes out of chimneys. That’s why you need to take action right now and get the nest removed by an experienced chimney sweep. Otherwise there is a health and safety risk potentially endangering anyone in your household.
So WHY is a bird’s nest in a chimney so dangerous?
Nesting material is extremely flammable. All it takes is a stray spark from a fire below to ignite the nest and then you have a dangerous chimney fire! Also, the scrabbling and clawing activity of birds is likely to damage the chimney itself, which can lead to increased dangers of chimney fires and even other problems such as damp in the building as the brickwork weakens.
Never light a fire and try to ‘smoke ‘em out’. That will just increase the chances of a chimney fire. Any nest needs to be properly and physically removed by an ‘authorised person’ under Government guidelines, such as a chimney sweeps. If there is a hazard to human life (and these nests ARE a hazard, they increase the risk of dangerous fires), please prioritise nest removal in your weekly ‘To-Do’ list.
Note that bird guards can help to dissuade birds from creating nests but they must be properly installed by an experienced chimney tradesman.
Remember that all birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). If you want a bird’s nest removed – ask an ‘authorised person’ – a professional flue technician such as James the Sweep, the Master Chimney Sweep for the wider area of Kent and nearby East Sussex. Phone James now for FREE ADVICE on 07587 134589.