Expert: Roger Lederer - 7/13/2007

Question
You answered a question of mine a couple of weeks ago regarding a nest built of straw and mud under the roof of my porch.  Despite my bad description you were able to help me identify them as barn swallows.  My granddaughter and I enjoyed checking up on the nest regularly to see if we had babies.   I was finally able to see feathery tufts then a few days later we saw heads.   Well now they appear to be almost full grown.  Until yesterday,  that had not ventured from the nest despite frequent encouragement from both their parents AND some other neighborhood birds.  My husband is getting very antsy as he is afraid the nest will permanently stain the brick on our house and now adding to that problem we have 4 full time birds pooping onto the corner of our porch.   I was sad but excited to see they had finally left yesterday but today....there they were,  parents swooping again.   I looked later and three of them were perched on the guttering within easy flight to their nest and now tonight,  they are back in the nest.  They are so big that they just kind of pile on top of one another in order to fit!   It is cute and fun to watch but I really don't enjoy all that poop!   My question (finally!)is at what point are they going to leave the nest for good?  I know they can fly...I've seen them.  Are they coming back to the nest because it is just convenient for them?  I almost hate to ask this but at what point can we remove the nest to rid ourselves of all the poop?
Thanks again.
Jane

Answer
There are two issues here, legal and ethical. Legally, you need a federal permit to remove the nest before the birds are done with it (your case would not qualify). Ethically, in my opinion, humans have taken over birds' habitats and birds are declining rapidly in number and species, so we should be flexible and tolerate a bit of an inconvenience to provide them a substitute habitat. After all, it is your inconvenience vs the birds' lives. So enjoy the birds while you can as they will be migrating soon.