Bird & Pigeon Problems in Pelmets and Curtain Boxes
A pelmet is the one surface on this site where the birds are not sitting on top. They are inside. It is a hollow box with an opening somewhere, and once a pair finds that opening it becomes a nest — which is why spikes along the top face make no difference at all.
- Direct Manufacturer
- Net & Spikes
- Pan-India Despatch
- Sized From Your Measurement
At a Glance
- The birds are inside, not on top. A pelmet is a hollow box, so this is a cavity problem rather than a perching one.
- Spikes on the top face do nothing. The commonest wasted purchase on this surface.
- The fix is closing the opening — usually the open end, with net.
- You will hear it before you see it: scratching, then cheeping at dawn and dusk.
- Check for chicks first. Sealing a box with young inside traps them, and most wild birds in India are protected.
A pelmet is the box above a window that hides the curtain track. On external elevations the same shape appears as a projecting hood, a shade box, a rolling-shutter housing or the boxed-in head of a window. Structurally they are all the same thing: a horizontal top, a front face, and a void between them.
That void is dark, dry, sheltered on three sides and warm. Nothing else on a building offers all four. If there is a way in, it will be used.
Spikes on Top Will Not Fix a Pelmet
The commonest wasted purchase on this surface
People see droppings near a pelmet, fit a row of spikes along its top face, and the problem carries on exactly as before. The birds were never using the top. They were going in at the open end or through a gap behind the front board.
Covering the top of a box does nothing about what is inside it. On this surface the job is to close the opening. Spikes only come into it if the top face is also being perched on — a separate, much smaller problem.
You Usually Hear It Before You See It
On an open ledge you see the birds. On a pelmet you cannot see anything, so the problem announces itself in other ways:
| What you notice | What is happening |
|---|---|
| Scratching or shuffling above the curtain | An adult moving inside the box. |
| Cheeping, loudest at dawn and dusk | Chicks. There is an active nest — see the timing note below. |
| Droppings on the sill or floor with no visible perch | Falling from the opening at the end of the box. |
| Twigs or straw poking out of one end | Nest material overflowing the cavity. |
| Bites or an itchy rash on people near the window | Bird mites, which leave the nest when the birds do. |
| A smell, worse in warm weather | Accumulated droppings and material in an enclosed space. |
The mite point matters and it is specific to enclosed cavities. On an open ledge the parasites disperse. Inside a pelmet directly above a bed or a sofa, they end up on the people below.
Finding the Way In
Before anything can be closed, the opening has to be found. On a pelmet there are only a few candidates:
- The open end. Most pelmets are simply not capped at the sides. This is the usual entry.
- The gap between the front board and the ceiling or lintel.
- A gap behind the box, against the wall, where it was never scribed in.
- A cut-out for a curtain rod, cable or bracket.
- A missing or fallen section of the front board on older joinery.
- The junction with an adjacent boxed-in beam — see cornice and beam junctions, which can feed straight into a pelmet void.
A gap of roughly 50 mm is enough for a pigeon; sparrows and mynas need much less. Look along the whole length, not just at the ends.
Which Product
Anti Bird Net — the Main Answer
A pelmet is a void, and a void is closed with net. Fixed across the open end, or run along the front to close a continuous gap, it seals the cavity without dismantling the joinery and stays serviceable if the curtain track ever needs access.
Fits: open ends, gaps behind the front board, continuous head voids
Bird Spikes
Only for the top face, and only if the birds are perching there as well as nesting inside. Useful on external hoods and shutter boxes whose top is a usable ledge.
Fits: the top face of an external hood or shutter box
On external pelmets the two are often used together: net closing the cavity, spikes stopping the top from becoming the new perch.
Doing the Work — and When You Cannot
Timing is not optional on this surface
More than any other surface here, a pelmet is likely to have an active nest in it right now. Most wild birds in India are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. If there are eggs or chicks inside, the box cannot be sealed — sealing it traps them, which is both illegal and something you would be living directly above.
Wait until the young have fledged, then clear and close the same week. A pair returns to the same cavity, so the gap between fledging and sealing is the whole opportunity.
- Listen first, at dawn or dusk, before deciding anything.
- Locate every opening along the full run, not just the obvious one.
- Clear the cavity out once it is empty — nesting material, droppings and all. Wear a mask; this is a confined, dusty space.
- Treat for mites if the pelmet is over a bed, sofa or desk.
- Close the openings with net, tensioned so it cannot be pushed aside.
- Add spikes to the top face only if it is being perched on.
- Keep it serviceable. Curtain tracks and shutter mechanisms need access — a fixing that has to be destroyed to open the box will be, eventually.
Related Surfaces
Residential, Commercial and Industrial
Residential
Curtain pelmets in bedrooms and living rooms, and external shutter boxes. The mite and noise problem is at its worst here because people sleep underneath.
Commercial
Boxed window heads, signage hoods and shutter housings on shopfronts — usually at the entrance, where droppings land on customers.
Industrial
Boxed-in service runs and roller-shutter housings, where a nest above a doorway becomes a hygiene finding during an audit.
Why Choose SpikeZone
- Direct manufacturer of both the net and the spikes, so a pelmet can be closed and its top protected from one supply.
- Net cut to your opening, since pelmet ends are all different sizes.
- Advice on which product you actually need — on this surface that is usually less than people expect, not more.
- Bulk supply for buildings where every window has the same detail and therefore the same problem.
- Pan-India despatch.
SpikeZone Installations
Frequently Asked Questions
I hear scratching above my curtains. What is it?
Almost certainly a bird inside the pelmet box. If it becomes cheeping at dawn and dusk, there are chicks in there and the box cannot be sealed until they fledge.
I fitted spikes on the pelmet and nothing changed.
Because the birds are not on the top — they are inside. Spikes on a box do nothing about its cavity. The opening at the end or behind the front board is what needs closing.
How do birds get into a closed pelmet?
It is rarely closed. Most pelmets are open at the ends, and many have a gap behind the front board or a cut-out for the curtain rod. A pigeon needs about 50 mm; smaller birds need far less.
Can I just block the ends with wood or foam?
It works only if every opening is found and none of them reopens. Net is easier to fit accurately, does not trap moisture, and can be opened later when the curtain track needs servicing.
There is a nest in there now. Can I remove it?
Not while there are eggs or chicks. Most wild birds in India are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and sealing the box with young inside would trap them. Wait for them to fledge, then clear and close immediately.
We are getting bites near the window. Is that related?
Very likely. Bird mites live in the nest and move out looking for a host when the birds leave. Clearing the cavity is what resolves it — treating the room alone does not.
Should the outside hood be netted or spiked?
Usually both. Net closes the cavity so nothing can nest inside; spikes stop the top face becoming the replacement perch.
Can you quote from a photograph?
Yes — photograph the open end of the box and give us the height and depth of the opening plus the number of windows. That is enough to size the net.
Something Nesting Inside Your Pelmet?
Send a photograph of the end of the box and tell us whether you can hear anything inside. If there are chicks, we will tell you to wait — and exactly what to do the week they leave, because that window is when the problem gets solved for good.