Pesty Swallows nesting above my patio door

[RuKiddingMe]

As the title says I have some swallows nesting above my patio door. They are becoming a problem, for my family and my poor dog. Have the babies hatched yet? If so what is the best way to remove the nest? What is the best time of day for my own safety, these guys are pretty aggressive.

I am not about destroying them at all I just want to force relocation on them.

[MN Shutterbug]

I'm no expert on swallows, actually not much of an expert on any birds, but my guess would be that the babies have hatched by now. It seems like even the blackbirds have all hatched by now. I've seen chicks of all kinds being fed for a few weeks now.

Put on a helmet and climb up there and check.

[goblueM]

You can't force them to relocate, its not going to happen without harming them substantially or killing them.

I would suggest dealing with it for a few more weeks until the babies are out of the nest, and then fixing things so they will not be able to nest there next year

[chanfish]

i used to wait until dark and toss a glass of water on them..it didnt hurt them and they didnt like it but they found other places to nest after that..never had babies in the nest..as soon as i saw them building and hanging around i would do this after dark when they arent so aggressive..no problems after that. still see them around not just on my front step. their droppings on my front step was the last straw otherwise i dont think i would have cared.

[aanderud]

If they've hatched, you'll know it. we have a nest above our front door of all places, and at one time there were FOUR babies and TWO adults. They were pretty cramped. They all moved out this week sometime.

You really shouldn't have any trouble seeing them as they get big enough that they don't fit completely in the nest.

[Dotch]

There are a couple nests yet with babies in them in the lambing barn yet but most in the other builldings have fledged. If there are babies in the nest, the adults tend to become agitated. In the outbuildings, no problem with their nesting. I leave the garage doors closed though because it's only a matter of minutes and they're in there looking for a place to nest. It's messy enough in there the way it is.

When they've tried to build over a doorway to the house, I try to knock them down daily when they make their first nest building attempts. They've always gone somewhere else. They are some incredible bug eaters so if they've managed to produce young even if it's somewhere I'd rather they didn't, I leave them until as someone suggested they've fledged then destroy it. I'm glad to have them around the farm site, along with their cousins the tree swallows. The flies and mosquitoes are starting to get intense but there are lots of new young swallows to help keep them in check.