Bird Mites: Where They Come From and What Stops Them
Bird mites are tiny mites that live in birds’ nests and feed on the birds’ blood. When the young birds leave, the mites go looking for something else to feed on, and in a house they are usually worst in the rooms nearest the nest. They bite people but cannot breed on them. Benefit Pest Management treats bird mite problems across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter. Our head technician holds pest management technician licence 5083379.
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Pests we treat
What bird mites are
If you have been waking up itchy, with bites that nobody has been able to explain, look up. Bird mites bite people in their own beds without living on them, and the reason is usually a nest somewhere in the roof.
The species that most often bites people is the starling mite, Ornithonyssus bursa, also called the tropical fowl mite. Under a millimetre long and barely visible to the naked eye, it is oval, with eight legs and a sparse covering of short hairs. It looks semi-transparent until it has fed and then turns reddish to almost black.
It feeds on the blood of birds, among them pigeons, starlings, sparrows, Indian mynas and poultry. Its whole life cycle takes about seven days, so a nest full of chicks can carry a very large number of mites in a short time.
Where they come from, and it's usually the roof
Birds get into roof cavities through broken tiles and unprotected eaves, and they nest there in early spring and summer. Chimneys, wall cavities, porches and window ledges get used as well, and some infestations start with birds roosting on an awning or a sill outside the house.
The trouble starts when the nest empties. Once the young birds have left the nest or died in it, the mites have nothing to feed on. For the next few weeks, tens of thousands of them can spread through the building looking for a new source of blood, climbing walls, ceilings and bedding as they go.
That is why bird mites are mostly a spring and early summer problem.
How to get rid of bird mites
Getting rid of bird mites means dealing with the birds and the nest they came from. Birds are territorial, so unless the gap they use is blocked, they come back to it and the problem comes back with them.
So in a roof we generally put the bird proofing in first and take the nesting material out after it. Sometimes both happen at once. Where birds have been on the solar panels, they are moved on before the proofing goes in.
Native birds are a different case. If the nest belongs to a native bird, such as welcome swallows under the eaves, we can’t legally remove it. The young have to hatch and the birds move on by themselves. What we can do is inspect and work out which proofing can go in without disturbing or harming them. We care about our natives too.
Once the birds and their nests are gone, an infestation generally runs its course. Keeping the birds out is what makes a repeat next spring less likely, and our bird proofing page covers how it is done, solar panel netting included.
Bites that are hard to pin down
The itching, the swelling and the raised red spots come from the saliva the mites inject when they feed. Scratching can break the skin and lead to an infection, according to SA Health, but the bites themselves are not known to carry any infectious disease.
They are also hard to diagnose. The bites look much like plenty of other insect bites. A bite on its own is not much to go on, since the mites don’t live under the skin or favour any one part of the body. If it has taken a while to work out what is biting you, that is why. The pest researchers at Westmead Hospital also note that some people find the feeling of mites crawling on them distressing in its own right.
We are pest controllers, not doctors. If the bites are bothering you, see your GP and mention that birds may have been nesting in the roof. One more point from the Westmead team: people should never be treated with insecticides. Whatever we put down goes into the roof and the nest site, never onto you.
Bird mite treatment, and why it fails without the nest
Spraying the bedroom is most people’s first instinct. On its own, it won’t last. While the nest is still in the roof, the house keeps getting more mites from it.
Our treatment generally goes into the roof for that reason. The mites get down under the insulation, so a dusting over the top isn’t enough. We lift pieces of insulation and spread the dust evenly through it.
Ring us on 0467 561 548 if you know or suspect that birds have been nesting in your roof.
Where we do this
We work from our base at Caves Beach across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, the Hunter, Port Stephens and the Central Coast, with no call-out fee.
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FAQ
Questions about bird mites
Can bird mites live on people?
No. They will bite people, but they cannot complete their life cycle on a human. Without birds, they don’t last.
How long do bird mites survive once the birds have gone?
Most die within about three weeks without a bird to feed on. Those are also the weeks they spend looking for one, which is why the bites often start just after the birds have left.
Do bird mites carry disease?
Bird mite bites aren’t known to pass on any infectious disease, according to SA Health. Scratching them can lead to an infection, though, and that is a job for your GP.
Which birds bring mites into a roof?
Pigeons, starlings, sparrows, Indian mynas and poultry all carry them, and so do some wild birds.
Why is one room so much worse than the others?
It is usually the room closest to the nest. Mites spread out from wherever they get in, and the rooms nearest that point generally get the worst of it.
Could it be something other than bird mites?
Yes, and it is worth ruling out. The tropical rat mite comes from rats, mice and their nests rather than from birds, and it occasionally bites people. The two are extremely hard to tell apart. Which mite you have decides the treatment, so the mite has to be identified first. If it is rodents you have had in the roof, start with our page on rodent control.
Next step
Start with the nest
The mites came from the nest, so the problem starts there. What helps most when you ring is knowing which rooms have been worst and where you have seen birds coming and going. If you are sending a photo, make it the roofline, the eaves or the spot where the birds go in.
A quote costs nothing, and neither does the advice.
