Bird Lice

Bird lice are closely associated with birds like starlings, sparrows and pigeons. This means that you have reason to worry if you have some of these birds on your property. Birds can make a garden beautiful, but pest birds can bring ruin to your property. Apart from having to deal with the mess they leave with feather and droppings, there is the noise pollution and the bird lice infestations to worry about. These blood sucking parasite are very tiny and can be hard to see with the naked eye and they come in different colors and sizes depending on the species. They can be yellow or gray, but turn red when they have had a blood meal.

The eggs get laid on the bird feather shafts and hatch only after a few days and start going through developmental stages to mature adults. When the host birds die, get trapped or leave the property they force the lice in feathers to move in search for other hosts because they cannot leave without the hosts. The same happens when infested fathers get shed and the bugs have to find a new host and this is where you get into trouble as a human. If you have pet birds like parrots and other birds, you can tell of infestations on them if they seem to scratch excessively or when they exhibit preening and grooming that is more than usual or necessary.

Once they find their way into your home, they can bite and cause skin irritations and itching for you and your family members. Suspect areas if you have bird perching or nesting on your property should be the roof voids and eaves. They then gain access to your home through wall cavities and through the ventilators. Most people have had the lice get into their bedrooms and cause itchy rash which can develop into secondary infections when scratched. These bugs can survive up to three weeks without feeding making them very hard to get rid of.

Managing an infestation

One of the best ways of keeping bird lice infestations at bay would be to get rid of pest birds on your property. You can remove the nest and use protective tools such as wire netting to keep the birds off your property. Toro Pest Management offers very good pest bird solutions that can help keep the birds off your property.

If you have a poultry house on your property and have pet birds, it is also a good idea to have them treated every once in a while to get rid of any possible infestations. Treatment should also be considered as soon as you suspect that the birds on your property are infested.

Vacuuming and use of insecticides are the most common methods of eradicating bird lice. To prevent further spread of the irritating parasites, it is advisable that you get pest control professionals to help you achieve a thorough treatment job. Toro has pest professionals that will not only get rid of the infestations, but also help you take measures to keep future infestations at bay.

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