Help!! There's a bird in my house!

[helptheresabird]

I've name changed because this might put me to anyone I tell about this incident!

There is currently a bird in my house that I want to remove. It's about the size of a blackbird but brown (female blackbird?) and I have no idea how it got in as the windows and doors are all shut. We had heard some scratching noises in the walls yesterday on the top floor so thought they might be nesting on the roof/in the loft space, but as far as I can tell there is no way for them to get through to the house from there!

Anyway, how do I catch it and get it out? It has got stuck between a window and the blinds which are down but opened, so it is getting tangled in the slats. This is the only window in that bedroom so there isn't another I can try to let it out of. I've shut the bedroom door to contain it but can just hear this constant flapping against the blinds and I'm afraid to go back in! Do I need some sort of net to catch it with?

Can you hang a sheet over the window/blind so it can’t escape into the room. Then open the window (you’ll have to get under the sheet I’m afraid) then leave the window open and leave the room for a while. Hopefully it will calm down and find it’s own way out.

Catch it with your hands and let it out of the window.

Obviously.

Catching it in a net would be extremely difficult and stressful for it.

Poor thing must be so scared. You can do it, you want the blinds out of the way so it can't get stuck and then the bird in the room with an open window and then just leave it on it's own for a bit. Just go in, open the window and maybe see where it's stuck if there's anything obvious you could do to help it out of the blinds. Have you got gardening gloves or washing up gloves? That might make you feel more confident.

.....As would catching with your hands....
(I’ve had a few birds caught in the house, jonidea why, think it’s because it’s south facing and they get confused about the reflection of trees on windows and end up flying in when some windows are open)

Just open the window and leave the room.

Catch it with a sheet/towel. Birds usuly stay calmer when they are covered up and cant see.

Try getting a large cloth or pillowcase to throw over it - if it is all tangled up, it shouldn't be too difficult.

Sorry if I’ve missed the obvious but pull up the blind and open the window?

We’ve had a fair few birds fly in over the years, some are bastards to get out even though they come in through really wide sliding doors, think nearly the length of a room and we try and shepherd them out that way also. They seem to fly everywhere in a panic and smash into the walls but yet miss the huge wide exit.

Go in and shut the door behind you. Open the window as wide as it will go. Check whether the bird is actually caught in the blinds. If not, raise the blinds out of the way. You can try to hang a sheet from the window to keep the bird in that area, depending on the type of window.

If there are any mirrors in the room cover them.

Then take the bird firmly but gently with one hand on either side, after freeing it from the blinds if necessary. Cover the wings so it can't flap in your face. Put it out of the window.

You might want to wear gloves. I caught a sparrow indoors once and it bit me hard and wouldn't let go even when I had it outside and opened my hand! I had to prise its beak open!

Poor you I actually can’t offer anything practical except to say that I understand completely how you might not be able to step foot in the room.

The idea of catching a bird in my hands is actually making me feel sick.

It’s just a bird? At worst you will get a sharp peck, probably not though.

We once had a bat in, that did worry me as didn’t really know anything about them and was worried it may bite. Bats also carry all sorts of stuff which is a problem if they bite, birds it’s not really a problem. Also, a line bird is hardly likely to take on a Alfred Hitchcock re-enactment.

Stick you hand in the blinds, trying to keep it in the window space still and then open the window, hopefully it will fly out.

Poor thing.

I’d move house. Wouldn’t even pack a bag. DH would come home to the Mary Celeste and a fucking starling going apeshit at the patio doors.

I’m terrified of birds and the idea of catching it myself and touching it makes me feel sick.

I’d shit myself, just open a window or door and leave the room.

I had a cat that would bring in live birds. He brought in a blackbird once and it got its wing caught in the curtain rail, of all places. That was fun. I just caught it in my hands and took it outside.
The noisiest was a young starling and the most ungrateful was a young thrush.
Each time it was a case of catching the bird in my hands and letting it go as quick as possible.

The longer you leave it, the more likely it is to damage itself and not be able to fly away. Can I ask why the obvious solution of opening the window isn't an option?

Opening the window is tricky because the bird is right by the window and I don't want it to touch me! I know it's irrational but the thought of any part of it touching me makes me feel funny, and these stories of being pecked are not helping!

I have called our landlord to come and have a look but in the meantime will try putting on gardening gloves and catching with a sheet or towel - wish me luck.

I have had to catch birds that have got indoors before, and I just threw a towel over them and then picked them up with both hands and put them outside. I didn't get pecked, and I didn't have gloves on! Once you've got your hands around them and they realise they can't flap, they tend to go quiet and still. The poor thing is probably exhausted and terrified, and its heart could spontaneously give out anyway. If you have some thick gloves and you can bear to, I would give it a go.

What is the landlord going to do? Please just lift the blind and open the window. Poor bird.

God sake, grow up woman, a tiny little bird isn’t going to kill you!!
Get a hand towel and hold the bird with it, poor thing will be on the verge of a heart attack panicking.

From what we were told by the RSPB rep when similar happened to us, it’s likely to die soon afterwards anyway because of the stress even if it’s gently caught :(

What is the landlord going to do? Please just lift the blind and open the window. Poor bird

^ this fgs

It shouldn't die if you just open the bloody window

Well, if the bird is right by the window then you have a much greater chance it will fly out when you open it! Problem solved. Presuming it’s just an average bird and not an enormous crow or eagle it won’t hurt you.