Birds - Bird trapping, removal, exclusion and clean up in Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia

While birds can be fun to watch at your backyard feeder, to many of the wrong kind can easily
become a nuisance and health hazard. Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services stands
ready to assist you with your nuisance bird problem. Our service area includes Central and Eastern
Virginia - including Richmond, Charlottesville, Goochland, Louisa, Fluvanna, Orange, Albemarle,
Powhatan, Mineral, Gordonsville, Earlysville, Keswick, Henrico and Hanover. Call us today and we
will be happy to discuss your problem with you and schedule a site inspection so that we can
design a solution to your problem. Below are a few of the more common nuisance bird problems
that we have resolved.

WOODPECKERS - There are several species of woodpeckers in Virginia that occasionally cause
problems by drumming on house siding, causing noise problems and damaging the siding.
Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services personnel successfully resolve dozens of
woodpecker calls each year.

STARLINGS - The Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is an invasive species that was introduced to the
United States around 100 years ago. Starlings eat fruit crops, replace native woodpeckers, are a
health hazard to livestock, and their droppings and nests deface buildings, interfere with airvents
and cause health and safety hazards. Starlings are hosts to bird mites.

PIGEONS - Pigeons (Columba livia) are a non-native species that most people are familiar with.
They deface buildings and property with their droppings, contaminate facilities and merchandise
with their droppings, and can cause health and safety hazards. Pigeon droppings contain e-coli
bacteria.

CHIMNEY SWIFTS - The Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) is a federally protected migratory bird
that normally becomes a problem when it raises its young in your chimney. If you have a chattering
noise in your chimney, chances are you have swifts nesting there. Because they are federally
protected (and don't normally pose much health risk) there is not much we can do once the problem
has started. Once the swifts have taken up residence in your chimney, the only thing we can legally
do is wait for them to leave in the early fall and then install a chimney cap to prevent their re-entry. If
you don't have a cap on your chimney we strongly recommend you have one installed before a
family of swifts, (or raccoons, or squirrels) decides to take up residence in your flue. Virginia
Professional Wildlife Removal Services personnel install chimney caps and offer a wide
selection of attractive caps for you to choose from. Call us today to get your chimney capped
before a unwelcome guest arrives!

Description of Damage

Bird droppings deface and accelerate the deterioration of buildings and increase the cost of
maintenance. Large amounts of droppings may kill vegetation and produce an objectionable
odor. Bird manure deposited on park benches, statues, cars, and unwary pedestrians is
aesthetically displeasing. Around grain handling facilities, birds consume and contaminate
large quantities of food destined for human or livestock consumption.

Birds may carry and spread diseases to people and livestock through their droppings. They are
known to carry or transmit ornithosis, encephalitis, Newcastle disease, cryptococcosis,
toxoplasmosis, salmonella food poisoning, and several other diseases. Additionally, under the right
conditions bird manure may harbor airborne spores of the causal agent of histoplasmosis, a
systemic fungus disease that can infect humans.

The ectoparasites of some birds include various species of fleas, lice, mites, ticks, and other biting
insects, some of which readily bite people. Some insects that inhabit the nests of birds are also
fabric pests and/or pantry pests. The northern fowl mite found on pigeons is an important poultry
pest.

Birds located around airports can also be a threat to human safety because of potential bird-aircraft
collisions, and are considered a medium priority hazard to jet aircraft by the US Air Force. (Source:
Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage -- 1994)

Health Concerns

Because birds live in such close association with humans, they are a factor in the dissemination
of diseases (chlamydiosis, coccidiosis, erysipeloid, Newcastle�s, parathypoid, pullorum,
salmonellosis, transmissible gastroenteritis, tuberculosis, various encephalitis viruses, vibriosis,
and yersinosis), internal parasites (acariasis, schistosomiasis, taeniasis, toxoplasmosis, and
trichomoniasis), and household pests (bed bugs, carpet beetles, clothes moths, fleas, lice, mites,
and ticks). (Source: Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage -- 1994)