That happened to me and it gets 10x worse when the eggs hatch. They are very noisy & messy birds. I had to seal up the opening where they come in and go out. Eventually they left. They produce 2 broods in one season and they'll come back again next year if you don't do anything.

Get the work done as soon as the first brood has left the nest. Personally I would just put up with the mess until then as I couldn't bring myself to rake the nest out or seal it up while there are eggs or babies there. Starlings are a nuisance in these situations but their numbers are declining partly through loss of nesting sites and they do a lot of good eating leather jackets and so on in lawns, parks and farms.

It would be illegal to do anything to them and their nest as they are on the UK Red list which means they are in danger of becoming extinct in the UK.
The young are ready to leave the nest at 3weeks after hatching but then return to the nest for the next 2 weeks before they finally fledge.

Can you see the adults taking food in and out? We also have some under the eaves in the roof space. Ours will be ready to go in about 2 weeks. Then Hubby will seal up the opening if he decides he doesn't want the mess. {last year it was a nest of house sparrows another red list bird}

According to the RSPB:-

"Starlings usually lay 4-6 eggs in mid-April. All birds within a colony start to lay eggs within a few days. The female does the majority of the incubation - the chicks hatch 12 days later.

Most failures are caused by infertility, and at the chick stage by starvation. Normally, only one brood is raised in a year, but if the first clutch is laid early and is successful, a second clutch may follow."

We had a similar problem with starlings which are definitely not in decline round here! They were nesting in a corner of the eaves and were noisy and messy. Our window cleaner offered to squirt liquid foam (I think that's what it's called) into each of the four corners, saying it dries rock hard like cement. The starlings tried a few times to use the old nesting area but couldn't so they left. They havent been back.

We had that weird situation a few years ago when the starlings were literally falling out of the sky and hitting the ground dying upon impact. It was like an omen. The poor things were disoriented.

Eileen: Have you ever looked into this strange phenomenon? How it happened? Why it happened? Is it just starlings?

Yes I remember that event Paul. I looked into it at the time but cant remember the cause now. Vague recollections that they had been caught in a weather vortex.

When we had house martins I got OH to make a little shelf under the nest to catch all the mess. It worked a treat, but I guess a nest of starlings would need a bigger shelf.

Thankyou for all your replies.We wouldn’t block up the opening until we’re sure they’ve left .The liquid foam sounds good .will give that a try.
Every day I’m out with my scrubbing brush and soapy water to clear up mess.!!

I remember going to someone's house and seeing a radio on a ledge under the porch. The householder said it was just noisy enough to stop the birds from choosing the porch as a nesting site.

Brilliant idea!

It’s a good idea but unfortunately not possible for me.
I haven’t heard any noise yet this morning but I’ll have to wait til it’s noise free for a few days before I’m sure they’ve gone for good.