While most birds aren’t considered parasites, they can become quite a nuisance. Birds can be helpful in some ways: feeding on predator insects and eating the seeds of pesky weeds that can overtake your garden; but birds can also be pests by feeding on the fruits and veggies in your garden, causing damage to your home and other structures on your property, and leaving droppings that can lead to serious health risks to you and your family.

Some birds are beautiful and fun to watch while others can be downright annoying and destructive. While birds aren’t typically considered a nuisance pest, they can become a problem when their nests obstruct important areas in your house, their droppings carry transmittable diseases, or they get into your attic or chimney.

Many people love watching birds in their natural habitat, and countless homeowners even supply birds with food, shelter, and birdbaths to keep them returning to their yards. While birds can be an incredible benefit to many homes and gardens by offering natural pest control, some species of birds can be seriously problematic.

Bed bugs, also known as Cimex lectularius, are small insects that feed on human and animal blood.Bed bugs are flat, wingless insects with a red-brown color. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source say they can be 1–7 millimeters (mm) in size.