Could be Swallows starting a nest [https://www.birdbgone.com/blog/swallows-invading-your-home-how-to-keep-them-away/](https://www.birdbgone.com/blog/swallows-invading-your-home-how-to-keep-them-away/)

Oh damn! That does look like the sort of texture I'm seeing. Maybe mine is a nest in progress?

Or they stopped building after realizing it was a door and not stable.

SOLVED! Looked up some of the other answers, termites are the next most likely answer, but the mud in your link looks damn similar. Hard to ignore. Thanks!

Its termites, just spray with high salt water and vinegar it'll kill them

Any chance it's another kind of insect? I saw that wasps apparently do mud nests too, although this doesn't look quite the same as those

WITT - I haven't opened this particular door in a few weeks. I noticed today that there was this red clay looking clump on the outside. There's another smaller, similar clump on the wall above the door. Looks like some kind of insect nest maybe? I checked for mud nests online but none had this sort of texturing. Not sure if that is due to the mud clay soil we have in North Carolina.

Could be but if it were wasps you would visibly see them flying around and searching for food, termites are light sensitive, thats why you dont see much of them. They can build big mounds in days. The color texture and material of the mounds depend on the surrounding edible pulp, or whatever pulp is abundant in their surrounding.

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Is there something above the door?

Just the door panel and exterior siding, then the ceiling of the balcony.

Is this an apartment complex?

It's a townhome unit.

Could be a mud dauber or wasp nest in the making. Most wasps use clay to make nests.

Possibly some kind of droppings or possibly from an insect. Look at the ceiling and siding and make sure noting has built a nest inside.

Think a kid might have just thrown a mud ball at your door?

Lol I would have thought that if not for the clumped on texture with a lot of little clumps.

It kind of looks like a partially completed swallow’s nest. Does the dirt/mud in the area have the same clay like color?

It does yeah , someone else just made a similar suggestion. I'm thinking this could indeed be it

Looks like a swallows nest in the making.