Help! How Do We Help A Bird Out Of The House??

[luckypenny]

Woke up this morning and there's a bird in our basement...don't know what kind but it's black...not as big as a crow but it's quite large. I've left one of the doors to the outside open for her to leave but she's in the joists of the basement ceiling right now. How do I get her out ?

[14+kitties]

Do you have a fishing net? That always worked for me when my ex and I had bats all the time coming down the chimney. Doesn't hurt the bird and hopefully less stress for you.

[dragon_queen]

I've caught birds in the house with a towel or light blanket. Just toss it over the bird and carefull pick it up and let it outside. It may take a few tries but it's worked for me many times as I don't have a screen door on my balcony.

DQ

[luckypenny]

She's somewhere in the joists though, lots of criss-crossed pieces of wood. I can hear her occassionally but I can't see her :sad:.

We don't have a fishing net but I'll get a bedsheet out right away, I hope she comes out .

[chico2]

L-P.how did the bird get in??
We used to have birds get in through the chimney,until we capped it.
What we did was just leave the basement door open and it eventually flew out,as long as it's not stuck in the rafters.
It's probably a Grackler(sp?)a black-bird.
If the bird is flying around a sheet is a good idea,hope you get him out
The problem is,they get so frantic they hurt themselves..

[luckypenny]

I have no idea Chico. We just woke up and there was a bird in the basement . I first saw her at the top of the stairs where there's a window but it's too high for us to have reached her. THen she flew back downstairs and I haven't seen her again (but I heard her). nothing in the last 5 minutes or so though. The door's open, the dogs safely tucked away upstairs. I hope she doesn't get stuck :sad:.

[hazelrunpack]

Are the lights on in the basement? Most birds don't see well in darkness or even semi-darkness, so she'll need light to see. Is there a door directly from the basement to the outdoors or will she have to fly up the stairs and out?

[cpietra16]

Oh..that happened to me a few years ago. I had a King Fisher in the house. I just threw a towel on it and released him outside. I guess it would hard to do this when you can't see the bird. I hope it gets out on its own...

[luckypenny]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

Are the lights on in the basement? Most birds don't see well in darkness or even semi-darkness, so she'll need light to see. Is there a door directly from the basement to the outdoors or will she have to fly up the stairs and out?

It's quite bright in the basement but not so much in the joists. There's a ceiling only over one room and that's where I heard her last but there's no way to see if she's still up there. There's a door down there that leads straight into the dogs' run and that's the one I have open. I still can't hear anything.

What doesn't help is I'm petrified of birds

[hazelrunpack]

Oh, you're right...that's not gonna help But keep in mind that this bird is absolutely harmless. Sounds like it's a grackle, and even a peck from it isn't going to break the skin...so you're safe!

If you can make it any brighter down there, that will help--once it relaxes, the bird will move toward light it can see. If it's quiet in the basement the bird will probably get bold enough to come out fairly soon. It'll be getting hungry soon, so it has a powerful motivation to get back outside where its food supply is. Problem is, it'll be hard for you to tell if the darn thing is gone...

Maybe it's gone already But don't check for a few hours... If you still hear it by this afternoon, is the ceiling that it's tucked behind a drop ceiling? Can you remove panels to get above it? Or is it drywalled?

[luckypenny]

It's the ceiling we just had drywalled.

I googled grackle and she's longer in the body. All black and lean.

Isn't that supposed to be bad luck or something ? I'm worried more about her bad luck at this point though.

[hazelrunpack]

Nah...blackbirds are good luck. (It's the vultures you have to worry about! ) She's the only one having bad luck at this point.

If it's drywalled, then she'll have to come out on her own. that she does it quickly.

Can you open the window you first saw her by? If she found it once, maybe she'll find it again!

[luckypenny]

No, I can't even reach it. It would be really tricky putting a ladder on the stairs too. The door she has access to is alot closer to where she was last though. I hope she can (or already had) make it out before I have to leave for work.

[cpietra16]

Can we safely say you may have another pet.... I hope its not too hungry or maybe if he gets that hungry he'll find a way out.

[luckypenny]

NO, you may not safely say that .

[Chris21711]

Originally Posted by cpietra16

Can we safely say you may have another pet....

[aslan]

This could only happen to you..... If birdie comes back out into the main room use the pool skimmer on the one roof to guide her out. If you can find the light A was using the night of the blackout plug it in and put it on, ontop of the heating pipes outside T's room, there weren't too many openings for it to get into his ceiling, 'cause i packed them with insulation remember, the light will help her get out if she's up there. DONT' wreck my ceiling.

[luckypenny]

No kidding . See, I told you you shouldn't leave .

Forgot about the pool skimmer, thanks. And the light . Running to do that now.....

I did think about removing a few sheets of drywall .

[Jim Hall]

yup sounds like lp has a new pet now can u say sunflower seed boys and girls/

[aslan]

I will soooo charge you extra if you hurt my pretty ceiling.. This is all because a certain young man doesn't always push the basement door closed all the way, but i didnt tell you that.

[hazelrunpack]

LP, you got a house plant or an artificial christmas tree that a bird could perch in? It might give her something enticing to fly to when she checks out the light. If you put it close to the door outside, it might help her find her way.

I had two young grackles loose in the basement once--they were rescued from a pool and we were getting them dry and warm. I had a fake xmas tree in the basement that they kept flying to. When they were ready to go back outside, I waited till they landed, turned out the lights, and threw a twin sheet over the tree. Then I reached under and was able to just pluck them off their perches to release outside

I guarantee ya, once she's outside, she'll be so grateful that all the luck she leaves for you will be good luck!

[luckypenny]

I have one large plant but it's too darn heavy for me to carry downstairs by myself . I tried looking with a flashlight and ladder but I'm too friggen short to get my head up there .

Meantime, door's still wide open and I haven't heard any sounds yet. I'm going to leave a list of the suggestions for dh to try as well, just to make sure she's still not in the house. Good thing it's fairly mild out so I can leave the door open all day.

Btw, just googled Blackbirds in the house , superstition says they're messengers for the dead . Maybe FIL wants just wants to say hello ?

[aslan]

if i recall the tall ladder is in T's bedroom still. or the general vacinity.

[hazelrunpack]

hazel has blackbirds in the house whenever she finds the opportunity and they often 'drop' a few messages around the house...if you get my drift! But we've never been able to decipher them... We just clean 'em up.

[luckypenny]

It's nowhere . I can't find it. I called dh to see where he put it but he's not picking up his phone .

[luckypenny]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

hazel has blackbirds in the house whenever she finds the opportunity and they often 'drop' a few messages around the house...if you get my drift! But we've never been able to decipher them... We just clean 'em up.

THanks, that makes me feel a bit better. Would now be the right time to ask Madame Hazel to bring out her crystal ball ?

[cpietra16]

Originally Posted by luckypenny

I have one large plant but it's too darn heavy for me to carry downstairs by myself . I tried looking with a flashlight and ladder but I'm too friggen short to get my head up there .

Meantime, door's still wide open and I haven't heard any sounds yet. I'm going to leave a list of the suggestions for dh to try as well, just to make sure she's still not in the house. Good thing it's fairly mild out so I can leave the door open all day.

Btw, just googled Blackbirds in the house , superstition says they're messengers for the dead . Maybe FIL wants just wants to say hello ?

Stop that.....Luckypenny...he just wanted to come in and see Aslan's great work.....messanger of the dead.....pahleeeease.........now if it was the grim reaper.......although i don't think you'd be wanting our input if a cloaked man came into your home.....

[luckypenny]

A cloaked man coming into our home might prove to be an exciting experience .

I'm not usually superstitious at all but I was talking to Frenchy on the phone earlier this morning and she says, " Oh no lp, I'm sure that's really bad luck" so I have her to blame for getting it into my head .

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by luckypenny

THanks, that makes me feel a bit better. Would now be the right time to ask Madame Hazel to bring out her crystal ball ?

Sure...just remember she's always wrong!

Hmmmmm...I wonder if our vet bills would be smaller if I stopped inviting the blackbirds in the house...

[Melinda]

make the basement dark, the only light for the bird should be coming in through an open window or doorway. with in 30 minutes it should fly to the light and be gone. Unless of course its so scared then it may take longer. IF you know where abouts the bird is, turn off all the lights and make it as black as possible, with a flashlight, find him, then toss a towel or sheet over him...