Bird in the cheminee

[Lori]

I have a bird in my cheminee.  I don't know if it has a nest or just got trapped in there.  I hear it fairly regularly flapping its wings.  Have heard some chirping too, but not all the time.  It is not visible as it is above the foyer.  How can I get it out?  I have opened the foyer door (it slides up and opens outward).  When I slide it up, the bird goes wild flapping, but when I shut the foyer door, it stops.  At first I thought it had found its way out, but no, it is still there.

Any ideas how to get rid of it?  Or will it die in there?

[Iceni]

Light a fire and the flapping will stop.

John

not

[nufan]

First, you need to know what kind of bird it is.

Usually, it's owls of sort of owls that establish their nests in cheminees... If it is a owl, it's probably building its nest...

If it's any other bird, it's probably stuck !

Try to open the foyer doors halfway, nevermind the flapping, to let it out. It has to go anyway...

If it doesn't, I don't see any happing ending, at least for birdy...

Good luck !

[Deimos]

I had the same last month. At first I thought is was mice and that I would leave it for the people who will be cleaning the chimney. Then, next day I noticed a largish bird (thrush sized) in my wood burner. I left the main burner door open and it hopped out and flew around the room a bit then out of a window - unharmed, a bit mucky and probably hungry and thirsty.

I have no idea how it got from the flue/chimney tube into the wood burner as the gaps there are really quite small. Plus any light would only have come from the top of the chimney.

Ian

[chris pp]

If you have a flue pipe and it's in the pipe I doubt that there is much you can do unless you can open the bottom somehow and let it fall down and make it's escape that way. There isn't enough space in a flue for a bird to fly straight up, it's been a big problem with the open topped metal poles that France Telecom have been using to replace the old wooden poles, these are now slowly being capped. Whatever type of chimney you have it's best chance is to get out the bottom somehow.

At this time of year it certainly will not be nesting, and in an ideal world wire mesh should be installed at the top of the chimney opening to prevent this happening as it's not uncommon.

Chris

[Lori]

Well I opened the flu again and left it open.  The bird dropped down into the fireplace.  It was a lovely little sparrow.  Would have hated to light the fire and kill it. 

Once it had dropped into the fireplace, I closed the flu and opened the big living room windows, then I opened the foyer door.  Off it went in lightening speed right out the window.

Whew...

I think it is my week for critters.  Just killed a huge spider carrying 85 babies on it's back in my living room a few days ago.  Disrupted a family of large mice looking things when strimming over the weekend - not sure what they were as they scurried away so fast, but they resembled large mice.  We have several bats nestled in our bedroom volets.  Each time we close the volets, the bats leave, but when we open them they return to hide in the folds of the volets.  Doesn't really bother me, but I don't open the bedroom windows at night as I don't want them coming to sleep with me!  And those God awful knats (how do you spell that) have returned as they do every Fall (where DO they come from).  The sanglier have begun to descend down from Mt. Ventoux, so nearly each night around 2 or 3 am, the dog goes mad barking and racing after them (grounds are fenced so dog has no fear).  Now the bird...

Ahhh country living.

Thanks folks