Page 1 of 1

Bird damage

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:23 am
by JohnN
The black-painted soffit boards on my bungalow are being attacked by a gang of yobbo blue tits. They've already damaged the paintwork and dug a few holes in the wood. They've only started doing this in the past 2 weeks - why? Putting paint on the damaged bits doesn't seem to deter them, so painting the whole lot might not work either. Is there anything I can spray on the boards that will solve the problem? Jeyes fluid perhaps? Thank you for any ideas.

Re: Bird damage

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 5:22 pm
by Monika
John, if it is really blue tits damaging your soffits, I think you must have woodworm in them - surely, they would not be interested in them otherwise. Quite often, the bottom of soffits, windowsills and any other horizontal structures have chrysales of moths or butterflies hanging from them and one can see tits working their way along them to pick them off, but actually damaging the wood?

Re: Bird damage

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:02 pm
by JohnN
Monika - Thank you for your comment. Definitely Tits, maybe not all blue. They make quite a noise and wake us up at dawn. The boards are quite old so there may be bugs in them. When it stops raining I'll get the ladder out and have a good look!

Re: Bird damage

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:28 am
by JohnN
Had further observation and the birds are attacking the black paint, revealing a yellow coat beneath, which they don't seem to have touched. There is a spider's web on a window below one board and it has collected lots of bits of black paint, as have the windowsills. Never mind, I'll repaint once the weather improves. Happy Christmas to y'all. :)