Bird is out and presumed at large, thanks everyone who responded.
Original post:
I’m not sure how it got in but it’s not happy about being there by the sound of things. I’m afraid if it stays there too long into the day it’ll overheat, my attic gets pretty hot. I don’t think it knows how to get out because we have both scared each other once and I think if it knew how to leave it would.
Open a window, then turn off all the lights. If there are other windows or parts of windows that still have light shining through but are not open, then try to cover it up. That way the only light source becomes the birds way out and hopefully it will just naturally just fly out.
This helped, thank you! I didn’t think about windows because it’s the attic, but there is a window up there, I’ve just never opened it. Still haven’t, because the bird escaped the same way it got in: through a broken pane I hadn’t noticed before. No blood on the pane so I don’t think it hurt itself on the glass, at least not too badly (I hope). Now to figure out where to get a new windowpane I guess.
If they’re not exiting through the remaining opening naturally, you can help encourage them with strong scents such as peppermint and loud sounds. You can stand with the bird between you and the open window and try to herd them towards it with your deterrent.
My go-to strat is throw a towel over the bird until it calms down and carry them outside. Don’t this with magpies and pigeons.
I have done something similar when birds get in my house proper, but my attic is unfinished and I didn’t want to try that while balancing on rafters. Fortunately it didn’t come to that.
Im glad you got this sorted out! I had some birds get into my living room through a truly wild set of circumstances*, and it happened a couple of times and is stressful and crap to deal with, but my advice in that regard is the same “open window/door, try to shoo them toward it and they figure it out”.
*In my case they were trying to nest in an old vent that the cover had broken off. From that vent they made their way into the duct for the bathroom vent, which is apparently also not properly connected, and from there got into the walls. Under that bathroom there had been a hole on the ceiling from a water leak, and i hadn’t repaired it yet, so they came out through there into the living room.
They tried to nest there 2-3 more times in the next couple days. and we got a routine of letting them out by the time I got a cover on the vent
Thanks! it was a bit of a surprise, I’ve had squirrels and raccoons in my attic before (and mice…) but never birds. It flew right at me when I went up and I may have screamed a little bit but ultimately it managed to find its own way out before I could really concoct a plan for removing it, so crisis averted lol.
If it helps, its a Common Starling.
