Dealing with a Stray Bird in the House

[wukunlin]

a bird decided to fly into the house, and then tries to exit from the highest window in the house which cann't be opened and none of us can reach, I want to figure out a way to throw the thing out without hurting it.

I'm thinking about waiting till dark and maybe leave a trail of lights (or food) to lead it out but I'm not confident that it will work. it will probably start to defecate all over the place sooner or later.

does anyone has experience to deal with this?

thanks

 

[Evo]

a bird decided to fly into the house, and then tries to exit from the highest window in the house which cann't be opened and none of us can reach, I want to figure out a way to throw the thing out without hurting it.

I'm thinking about waiting till dark and maybe leave a trail of lights (or food) to lead it out but I'm not confident that it will work. it will probably start to defecate all over the place sooner or later.

does anyone has experience to deal with this?

thanks

When our parakeet would get lose, my grandmother would catch it with a crab net. Can you leave doors and windows open for awhile? It may find it's way out.

 

[turbo]

When a bird is disoriented due to the dark, or to too-bright or unreliable light from that window, you can often capture it by hand. I use both hands, from the back, to gently restrain their wings and take them outside, while shifting to restraining them with just one hand. I always like to put a finger under their feet, so that they use their perching instinct to grab my finger, and then gently release their wings. When taking a bird outside after a period inside, they are often disoriented, blink, and act off-balance for a few seconds before they take off. Good luck, and thanks for caring for critters.

 

[wukunlin]

When our parakeet would get lose, my grandmother would catch it with a crab net. Can you leave doors and windows open for awhile? It may find it's way out.

hopefully, we are just going to leave it there and see if it will calm down.

When a bird is disoriented due to the dark, or to too-bright or unreliable light from that window, you can often capture it by hand. I use both hands, from the back, to gently restrain their wings and take them outside, while shifting to restraining them with just one hand. I always like to put a finger under their feet, so that they use their perching instinct to grab my finger, and then gently release their wings. When taking a bird outside after a period inside, they are often disoriented, blink, and act off-balance for a few seconds before they take off. Good luck, and thanks for caring for critters.

oh I see, I'll just wait till night and hope it will decide to come down.

 

[Q_Goest]

I had a bat fly into my house once (story is on my blog). I used a towel to throw over it and I think helps keep them from getting hurt while you carry them outside. Might help keep them a bit more calm too.

Keeping the windows open might work, but it didn't in my case. Good luck!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I say turnabout is fair play. Go into the bird house.

 

[Evo]

I had a bat fly into my house once (story is on my blog). I used a towel to throw over it and I think helps keep them from getting hurt while you carry them outside. Might help keep them a bit more calm too.

Good idea!

Open doors works for feral cats and wild possums. But first all females in the house must scream, grab each other, and lock themselves in the master bedroom.

 

[turbo]

Good idea!

Open doors works for feral cats and wild possums. But first all females in the house must scream, grab each other, and lock themselves in the master bedroom.

Do you get to console yourselves with high-end ice cream and chocolates? Just asking'?

 

[Proton Soup]

i had a hummingbird fly in once. turns out his night vision wasn't so great. when it got dark, i simply reached to the top of the bookshelf he'd perched on, and gently closed my fist around him. bird in hand, i set him on the balcony and closed the door so he couldn't return. and there he sat until morning.

 

[DaveC426913]

If it's still there, it may need water. If it doesn't find its way out pretty soon, it may perish from thirst. I'd put out a little cup near its haunt.

 

[wukunlin]

If it's still there, it may need water. If it doesn't find its way out pretty soon, it may perish from thirst. I'd put out a little cup near its haunt.

good point, I just placed a bucket of water below the window sill, it is very high up though, I don't know it will see the bucket. It is still trying and ram its way through the glass

 

[QuarkCharmer]

Just go outside and spray the glass with your waterhose and when the bird flys down nab him with a bed sheet.

 

[wukunlin]

waaah!

it just won't come down

 

[ArcanaNoir]

poor birdie :( Get a ladder or borrow one from a neighbor and get up there.

 

[FlexGunship]

Can you leave doors and windows open for awhile? It may find it's way out.

Or more will find their way in!

Just convert your house to an aviary. The game is over and you lost. if you're lucky, your new ornithoid overlords will at least let you take your belongings with you.

bird in hand, i set him on the balcony and closed the door so he couldn't return.

You had a bird in hand?! Dude, that's worth two in a bush (three Canadian)! You're a fool to let it go.

Open doors works for feral cats and wild possums. But first all females in the house must scream, grab each other, and lock themselves in the master bedroom.

I love girls.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

three Canadian

Those days are gone. A Canadian dollar today costs as much as a real dollar.

 

[FlexGunship]

Those days are gone. A Canadian dollar today costs as much as a real dollar.

Dollars?! What on Earth are you talking about Old Man Snyder?? We're talking about birds!

Two American Goldfinches:

Are worth three Canadian Finches:

It's gold, after all... have you seen gold prices?

 

[Redbelly98]

a bird decided to fly into the house, and then tries to exit from the highest window in the house which cann't be opened and none of us can reach, I want to figure out a way to throw the thing out without hurting it.

I'm thinking about waiting till dark and maybe leave a trail of lights (or food) to lead it out but I'm not confident that it will work. it will probably start to defecate all over the place sooner or later.

does anyone has experience to deal with this?

thanks

Is there any way you can cover the window? Maybe you can reach it with a stepladder from the outside and drape a towel or blanket over it. Then the idea is to get the bird to fly to an open window or doorway. You may need to cover or draw the shades on all closed windows in the house, so that the bird sees light coming only from the open door or window and flies to it.

 

[wukunlin]

:(

we waited till night time, it finally decided to fly down. We took it outside and leave some food and water for it. In the morning it stopped moving
My mother buried it in the garden

 

[FlexGunship]

:(

we waited till night time, it finally decided to fly down. We took it outside and leave some food and water for it. In the morning it stopped moving
My mother buried it in the garden

Ruined my day.

 

[turbo]

:(

we waited till night time, it finally decided to fly down. We took it outside and leave some food and water for it. In the morning it stopped moving
My mother buried it in the garden

Oh, no! I hate to see birds die.

One night, I closed the door to my detached garage, and the next morning when I opened the door, there was a dead baby hummingbird on the floor. I assume that his momma parked him there so she could bring him nectar and other liquids, and when I closed the door, she couldn't tend him and he starved overnight. That was NOT a good day.

 

[dlgoff]

RIP bird.

 

[DaveC426913]

Oh, no! I hate to see birds die.

One night, I closed the door to my detached garage, and the next morning when I opened the door, there was a dead baby hummingbird on the floor. I assume that his momma parked him there so she could bring him nectar and other liquids, and when I closed the door, she couldn't tend him and he starved overnight. That was NOT a good day.

I had this happen too. Except with a couple of baby coons.

And they made a big enough racket to get rescued.

 

[DaveC426913]

I've had moderate success with flying things.

One was a baby bird that I took inside but died while I was at work.

One I rescued from a drain in my pond where it almost drowned. Wasn't even moving when I pulled it out but it recovered over a couple of hours.

One was a baby robin that fell from a tree. It was early spring - still no access to worms. I had to put that one out of its misery because I couldn't feed it.

And one was a bat that showed up at the office. It went to animal control (they're protected).

 

[rhody]

wukunlin,

Sorry to hear your little bird passed away...

I saved a mature green/yellow humming bird that was trapped inside my garage window a couple of years ago. I thought it was a June bug it was so loud, it must have only been there a couple of minutes, I got a big towel and scooped him up, he was near exhaustion, I put him on the warm hood of my truck outside the garage. His little mouth was open, tongue darting in and out. His wings were splayed like a fighter plane on a carrier deck. If I had come in 15 minutes later he probably would have died. After 5 minutes or so he retracted his wings, pulled in his tongue, raised his landing gear and flew straight up at least one hundred feet in the air. I was stunned and impressed. It was his lucky day I guess.

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

:(

we waited till night time, it finally decided to fly down. We took it outside and leave some food and water for it. In the morning it stopped moving
My mother buried it in the garden

Too much stress, perhaps. It might have been injured, and is why it flew into your house. At least it was loved for his last few hours.

 

[DoggerDan]

a bird decided to fly into the house, and then tries to exit from the highest window in the house which cann't be opened and none of us can reach, I want to figure out a way to throw the thing out without hurting it.

I'm thinking about waiting till dark and maybe leave a trail of lights (or food) to lead it out but I'm not confident that it will work. it will probably start to defecate all over the place sooner or later.

does anyone has experience to deal with this?

Uh, yeah, I do, in several states. Open all windows. Ball up some clean socks and start hurling. Takes about two minutes. Helps if you blow on a Fox whistle. He'll find his own way out. Works with bats, pigeons, some other birds I haven't a clue as to what kind, and aboard ship, the occasional seagull or albatross that gets too friendly gets a reminder than his poop ain't welcome on the poop deck. No, folks, none are hurt. Just reminded that parking one's butt aboard ship is less desirable than parking one's butt in the water. They are, after all, water fowl, and yes, they float just peachy kean.

 

[Redbelly98]

... Open all windows...

What about the window that "can't be opened and none of us can reach"?

Well, it's a moot point now. I'm sorry the bird didn't make it.