When Becca Hughes and her partner first moved into their house in Christchurch there was bird poo on the street and footpath. But they didn't expect in four years the faeces would cover their entire house.
Starling bird droppings are coated across Dudley Street in Richmond making the driveway smell like a "farmyard".
"We clean the cars and driveway on a weekly basis but they still look like abandoned vehicles," Hughes tells Newshub.
Just leaving the house has become a hassle for the family of four as they try to avoid the droppings.
"[Our children] have to be completely covered in the pram as we dash to the end of the street when we head out for a walk with the dog," Hughes says.
She said her two-year-old son, who loves playing on his balance bike, is restricted to the garden otherwise they have to wash the bike thoroughly every time he uses it.
"I check my letterbox from the car as I pull onto the driveway rather than risk the extra walk up the drive, and friends are reluctant to park near our property as in the short hours they are here their cars will be caked in bird droppings."
Hughes says she and her partner Nick have contacted the Christchurch City Council directly, sent countless "Snap Send Solve" requests, attended community board meetings, hosted a community board member at the house and spoke with the local residents association, but still there's no help.
"The council have said it's not their problem and now proceed to ignore us."
Hughes says when they bought the house they expected the trees that form a part of the council's character overlay in the area would be well maintained and managed which would have prevented the starlings from roosting in such high numbers.
The council has answered their complaints about branches falling during high winds with the trees now being surveyed.
"They've done the bare minimum," Hughes says. "We really love the trees but they've been severely neglected since the earthquakes and continue to cause problems."
She says the council hasn't sampled the droppings or monitored the air to see if it is hazardous to public health, but simply told them it's what they should "expect" living on a tree-lined avenue.
The Christchurch City Council said the transport team engaged with residents of Dudley Street in October/November 2021 as part of the street renewal programme. During this engagement they asked residents if there were any issues, with responses regarding the trees were about wainting to retain them due to the local character of the street.
"With regards to this issue, although Starlings may be considered a nuisance species they are not considered a biodiversity issue and therefore they are not a bird that the Council has responsibility to manage," a council spokesperson said.
"We believe pruning Council-owned street trees will not stop the Starlings nesting in the area as they are known to return to the same location each year."
Dudley Street is due to form a part of the new cycleway into the city from New Brighton, but Hughes says she can't imagine anyone wanting to ride their bikes down the street.
"They'd effectively be riding the gauntlet," she says.
But for now the Hughes family has had to resort to "old wives tales" to keep the birds away. They have tried banging pans with spoons at the times they come to roost, putting a fake owl on their house and their neighbours have a bird-shaped kite they fly above their house.
