netting swallow nest sites

hello everybody,

i have a problem that i'm hoping someone has some practical advice for. my landlord has netted all of the carport ceiling area where i live to prevent the swallows from nesting there again. the reasons are simply to prevent them making a mess all over the boiler and door step areas, and he is perfectly ligitimately entitled to do so.

however, we would very much like to manage the nest site rather than blocking it entirely, so we would need to encourage the swallows to  nest where their mess won't cause 'problems'.

can anybody define precisely what they need regarding their nest site, ie space, shelter, perches etc. and has anybody come across artificial nests for swallows? are there such things?

can anybody suggest any other practical solutions to allow these lovebirds to return to a welcoming home?

fyi the carport is northfacing with brick walls on three sides, and the ceiling is at about 10 with wooden beams and steel rsj's.

Hi duerdog,

The RSPB do Swallow nest boxes if there's a place you can put them up without the birds causing a nuisance.

http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/p/Nestboxes/Swallow_nest.htm

Good luck.

Why not put boards across not fixed that can be cleaned off after birds finished nesting and cleaned off ready for next year and put the boards about one foot below the nests.

thankyou both... didn't know about the nest boxes, so maybe a combo of your two comments would do nicely