Bird Mites and Bat Bugs: When It Is Not Bedbugs: Sutton

Suburban houses with eaves, soffits and loft spaces give birds and bats places to nest and roost, sometimes right above a bedroom. Most of the time that causes no trouble indoors. Occasionally the parasites that live on those birds or bats find their way inside, and the bites that follow get blamed on bedbugs.

Bird Mites

Bird mites live on nesting birds such as pigeons, starlings and sparrows. They are tiny, far smaller than a bedbug, and often look like moving specks of dust or pepper, pale at first and darker after feeding. While the birds are in the nest the mites stay with them.

The trouble starts when the young birds leave or the nest is abandoned. Without hosts, the mites spread out looking for food and can come through gaps in the ceiling, around light fittings or along window frames. They may bite people, but they cannot live and breed on us, so the problem tends to fade once the nest source is dealt with.

Bat Bugs

Bat bugs are close relatives of bedbugs and look almost identical to the naked eye. They live in bat roosts and feed on bats. If the bats move out, bat bugs may wander down into the rooms below and bite people.

Telling a bat bug from a bedbug needs a close look at a specimen; the difference is in the length of fine hairs on the body. That is why keeping the insect matters. Our London guide on bedbugs or something else covers other common mix-ups.

Clues That Point to a Nest or Roost

• Bites started soon after birds left a nest in the eaves, or after roof or soffit work.
• Insects seem to appear near the ceiling, a light fitting or a window rather than in the seams of the bed.
• The bedroom is on the top floor or in the roof.
• There is no dark spotting in the mattress seams or bed joints despite a careful search.
• The insects are very small and fast, or you have seen bats at dusk near the roof.

None of these proves anything alone, but two or three together are worth mentioning when you call.

Why the Treatment Is Different

With bedbugs, the treatment goes where they live: the bed, its frame, the skirtings and nearby furniture. With bird mites or bat bugs, the colony is outside the living space, so treating the bedroom only deals with the stragglers. The source needs attention first.

For a bird’s nest, that usually means removing it once it is no longer in use and dealing with the area around it. Bats are different: bats and their roosts are protected by law, so nobody should block, disturb or treat a roost without advice. Natural England can tell you where to get it. Ask when you ring whether the nest side is something we can help with.

Getting It Identified

1. Catch one of the insects on clear tape or in a sealed bag.
2. Photograph it next to a coin or ruler, and note where you found it.
3. Check the bed seams and joints for spotting, eggs and shed skins.
4. Ring 0800 955 1018 and describe what you found and what is in the roof.

If there is doubt, an inspection from £120 looks at the beds and the rooms under the roof and tells you whether you are dealing with bedbugs at all. If it is bedbugs, the borough page covers the next steps, and our Belmont page deals with bedrooms in the roof.

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