The green invaders: protecting your property from parakeet damage

You hear them before you see them. A harsh, repeated screech somewhere above the rooftops, then a flash of bright green going over at speed. Ring-necked parakeets have been established in London for decades, and over the last few years they have been pushing steadily out into Essex.

They are genuinely striking birds. They are also, if they choose your building, an expensive problem.

What the damage looks like

Parakeets are parrots, and they have the beak to prove it. It is a strong hooked tool designed for cracking hard seed, and it makes short work of the softer parts of a building.

• Fascias, soffits and cladding. Timber and uPVC roofline components get chewed, and once there is a hole there is a way into the roof space.
• Vents and grilles. Plastic vent covers are easy targets, and an opened vent quickly becomes a nest site.
• Cabling. This is the one that worries us most. Parakeets will chew cable insulation, including the DC wiring that runs underneath a solar array. Damaged insulation on a live DC circuit sitting on a roof is a fire risk, not just a maintenance issue.
• Guano. Bird droppings are acidic. Left on glass they etch it; left on stone, render or painted metalwork they mark it. On solar panels they do both — shading the cells while slowly damaging the surface.

The gap between a solar panel and the roof covering is warm, dry, sheltered and hidden from predators. From a bird's point of view it is close to ideal, which is why it is usually the first place we look.

Why prevention is the only legal answer

It is worth being clear about this, because people occasionally ask us to "just get rid of the nest".

Wild birds, their active nests and their eggs are protected by law. An occupied nest cannot simply be removed because it is inconvenient. That means the work has to be prevention: making a location unattractive before it is occupied, or between nesting periods once it is genuinely unoccupied.

Everything we fit is humane. Nothing is designed to injure a bird. The aim is that the ledge, the void or the gap stops being somewhere worth landing.

What actually works

• UV-stabilised solar panel mesh. A mesh clipped around the perimeter of the array, closing the gap between panel and roof without drilling into panels or roof covering. The UV stabilisation matters: cheap mesh on a south-facing roof goes brittle within a couple of summers and then fails exactly where you cannot see it.
• Spikes and post-and-wire systems. For parapets, ledges, signage and chimney stacks, where the aim is simply to remove a comfortable landing spot.
• Netting. For larger voids and recesses where exclusion is the only realistic option.
• Chimney cowls and blockers. A chimney pot is a ready-made nest cavity. A cowl closes it while still allowing the flue to work.
• Scare systems. Useful in some settings as part of a wider approach rather than on their own.

Clean first, then proof

Fitting a deterrent over the top of existing fouling is a mistake. The guano is a health issue, it prevents fixings bedding properly, and it leaves the mess permanently sealed in place.

We clean first with 150 °C dry steam, which sanitises without chemicals running off into gardens, drains or watercourses, then remove nesting debris and dispose of it. Chewed fascias, vents and cable covers get repaired where we can, and where the damage needs a roofer or an electrician we will say so rather than bodge it.

Then the proofing goes on, to clean and sound material.

If you have heard scratching above a ceiling, found debris under a solar array, or simply watched a pair of green birds taking an interest in your roofline, it is much cheaper to deal with now than after a nesting season. Call us on 0330 043 0961.