Bat and Bird Removal & Exclusion in Philadelphia

Hearing scratching or chirping in the attic? Seeing bats leave your roofline at dusk? Maybe birds keep nesting in a vent, chimney, or another opening around your property.

Removing the animal you can see may solve the immediate problem, but it doesn't necessarily solve the reason it got there.

With bats and birds, the important questions are: Where are they getting in, why are they using the building, and what needs to be done to keep them from coming back?

At Fowler Pest Solutions, that is what we look for when evaluating a bat or bird problem.

How Bats and Birds Get Into Philadelphia Buildings

Philadelphia-area buildings provide plenty of places for wildlife to find shelter.

Older row homes may have aging rooflines, chimneys, cornices, soffits, vents, and small gaps between building materials. Larger homes throughout Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester counties can have multiple rooflines, attic vents, dormers, soffits, and chimney systems.

Commercial properties and warehouses present their own challenges, including roof openings, signs, ledges, loading areas, structural beams, and large doors.

Common problem areas include:

• Attics and rooflines

• Soffits and fascia

• Chimneys

• Roof and gable vents

• Exhaust and dryer vents

• Gaps around flashing or trim

• Wall and roof cavities

• Commercial signs and ledges

• Warehouse rafters and loading areas

• Protected areas beneath solar panels

Sometimes the opening is obvious. Often it isn't.

A small exterior gap can lead into a much larger protected space inside the building.

Signs You May Have a Bat or Bird Problem

You don't always have to see the animal inside.

Watch for repeated activity around the same part of the building, especially:

• Bats emerging from the roofline around dusk

• Chirping, squeaking, scratching, or rustling from an attic or wall

• Birds repeatedly entering the same vent or roof opening

• Nesting material sticking out of vents or gaps

• Droppings accumulating below an entry or roosting area

• Birds gathering repeatedly on signs, ledges, or commercial structures

• A bat or bird appearing inside the living area

• Wildlife activity returning after an opening was previously repaired

Repeated activity is particularly important. If animals continue returning to the same structure, there may be an unresolved entry or roosting point.

What Is Wildlife Exclusion?

Exclusion means addressing the way wildlife is getting into or using a building so the problem doesn't simply repeat.

For bats, this can involve properly placed one-way exclusion devices that allow bats to leave but prevent them from returning, along with sealing other potential entry points.

For birds, exclusion may involve protecting vents, closing appropriate structural openings, screening access points, or using physical barriers at recurring nesting or roosting locations.

The exact approach depends on what we find during the inspection.

The important part isn't just removing the animal. It's determining how it got there.

Why Can't You Just Seal the Hole?

Because an animal may still be inside.

If an active bat opening is sealed too soon, bats can become trapped in an attic, wall void, or other part of the structure. They may also search for another exit and end up inside the occupied portion of the building.

Bird nests create a similar issue. Eggs or young birds may be present even when an adult bird isn't visible.

This is why exclusion needs to be planned rather than simply sealing every opening as soon as wildlife activity is discovered.

Bat Exclusion in Philadelphia

Bats commonly use attics, rooflines, chimney areas, and structural cavities because these spaces provide protected roosting locations.

If you're seeing bats leave the same area of your home around dusk, there may be more than one bat using the structure.

How Professional Bat Exclusion Works

A bat inspection generally focuses on locating active exits and other openings bats could use.

We look closely at areas such as:

• Roof edges

• Soffits and fascia

• Flashing

• Chimney areas

• Exterior trim

• Attic and roof vents

• Gaps where different building materials meet

Where appropriate, one-way exclusion devices can allow bats to leave without allowing them back through the same opening. Other potential access points are addressed so the bats cannot simply move to another part of the roof.

Once the bats have left and activity has stopped, the remaining exclusion points can be properly closed.

Bat Exclusion Timing Matters in Pennsylvania

Bat exclusion should not be performed without considering the time of year.

Pennsylvania Game Commission guidance identifies May 15 through August 1 as bat maternity season and advises against exclusion during this period because young bats may not yet be able to fly.

Winter exclusions can also be problematic when bats are overwintering inside a structure.

Pennsylvania is also home to bat species with state or federal conservation protections. When species identification or protected-species rules could affect the work, those requirements need to be considered before exclusion takes place.

Bird Removal and Exclusion in Philadelphia

Bird problems can look very different depending on the property.

At a house, birds may be nesting in a bathroom vent, attic opening, chimney, soffit, or roof cavity.

At a commercial property, birds may repeatedly roost on signs, ledges, roofs, beams, or equipment. Warehouses can have birds entering through loading areas or other large openings and then roosting high inside the building.

The solution depends on where the birds are going and why that location works for them.

Birds Nesting in Vents

Birds sometimes use exterior vents because they resemble protected nesting cavities.

Simply removing nesting material isn't necessarily a long-term solution. If the vent remains accessible, birds may return.

Once it is confirmed that the nest can lawfully and safely be addressed, the opening can be protected with an appropriate solution that keeps birds out while allowing the vent to continue functioning properly.

Birds on Commercial Buildings

Commercial bird problems often require a broader inspection.

Birds may be attracted to:

• Signs and architectural ledges

• Roof equipment

• Parapets and sheltered roof areas

• Warehouse rafters

• Loading areas

• Accessible food or waste

• Protected structural spaces

Cleaning droppings from the same ledge every week doesn't prevent birds from returning. If the location remains attractive and accessible, the cycle can continue.

Effective bird control focuses on the reason the birds are using that particular area.

Can You Remove a Bird Nest?

It depends on the species, whether the nest is active, and where it is located.

Many native migratory birds are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Active nests containing eggs or young may be protected from unauthorized removal or destruction.

Federal rules provide specific authorization for certain situations involving migratory birds that have entered the interior of a building, but those provisions should not be assumed to apply to active nests on the exterior of a structure.

If the species or nesting status isn't clear, the safest approach is to identify what you're dealing with before disturbing the nest.

What About Bat and Bird Droppings?

A few droppings don't automatically mean there's a serious health hazard.

Larger accumulations deserve more care.

The fungus that causes histoplasmosis can grow in environmental material containing substantial accumulations of bird or bat droppings. Disturbing contaminated material can release spores into the air.

Avoid dry sweeping or unnecessarily disturbing large accumulations in attics, enclosed areas, or established roosting sites until the situation has been evaluated.

What Should You Do If You Find a Bat Inside?

Don't handle a bat with bare hands.

If a bat has been inside an occupied room and there is any possibility that a person or pet had physical contact with it, contact the appropriate healthcare, veterinary, or public-health authority for guidance before simply releasing it.

Rabies transmission from bats is uncommon, but possible exposure needs to be handled correctly.

How We Approach Bat and Bird Problems

During an inspection, we're trying to answer a few basic questions:

What animal is involved?

Where is it getting in?

Is it nesting or roosting inside the structure?

Are there additional openings?

Can exclusion be performed safely and legally right now?

What needs to change to keep the problem from returning?

That information determines the appropriate next step.

Sometimes the issue involves one opening. Other properties may have several potential access points that need to be addressed together.

Preventing Bats and Birds From Coming Back

Once wildlife has been properly excluded, prevention focuses on making the building less accessible.

That may includ