Age and type of house
Birds are using the eaves of the thatch and the surveyor did not identify the species. What wildlife conclusion is outside the condition note?
Any conclusion about species, protection or a wildlife licence is outside the condition note. The survey can say birds are using the eaves of the thatch, and it can say what disturbance of the coat was seen. It did not identify the species. It has not decided that the birds are protected, that they are not, or that work to the eaves would need a licence. The condition note stops at the birds and the eaves.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Birds pull and burrow at eaves, and the damage is a thatch condition: loose straw, holes, a wetter edge. Naming the bird is a different skill, and the surveyor did not do it. A house sparrow and a protected species can leave a similar mess at a glance. The report will not guess. Because the species is unnamed, nothing in the note authorises you to clear nests, block holes or start ridge work as if wildlife did not matter. It simply does not decide the wildlife point.
Ask a thatcher about the eaves damage as a roof question, and if work would disturb nests ask a wildlife adviser whether the unnamed birds change how that work is done. Tell the solicitor the survey has not identified the species and has not given a licence opinion. Keep the condition sentence about the thatch, and keep the wildlife question outside it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What damage at the eaves did you actually see?
- Did you leave the species unidentified on purpose?
- Is any licence or protection conclusion outside the condition note?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the note as birds at the eaves, not as a species identification.
- Ask a thatcher about the damage to the coat.
- Take wildlife advice before work that would disturb the nests.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If you later learn the birds are common, does the thatch damage vanish?
No. The species name does not repair pulled eaves. The condition note is about the thatch the birds are using. A common bird can still leave a hole that lets water in. The wildlife question and the roof question stay separate even after someone names the bird.
Can the surveyor add a species if you send a photograph?
A photograph might help someone who identifies birds. It does not, by itself, amend the condition note into a wildlife report. The inspection did not identify the species. Any later name should be kept as a later name, not as something the survey already decided.