A bird flying in the house may be a common sight if you keep doors or windows open. But this doesn’t have to be a permanent problem, as you can remove a bird from your house.
You must do so immediately for your and the bird’s safety. Otherwise, the longer they are exposed to dangers like household pets or glass and mirrors, they can act unpredictably and get injured.
Panicking birds can also knock into and damage items. Thus, you must know how to get a bird out of your house.
Table of Contents
Ways to Get a Bird Out of Your House
You’ll need only a few things to help a bird trapped in a house, plus some patience as well. Once you’ve mustered a lot of that, here’s what you can do:
1. Do Not Panic
Birds inside the house often make people panic, but that shouldn’t be the default response. Panicking makes the bird more nervous or fearful, so it flies wildly, potentially knocking down several items or injuring itself.
Thus, when you see a bird swooping into your homestead, you should calm yourself first. While doing so, make a plan for getting bird out of house.
For instance, you can look for a net or bed sheet to guide your fluttery friend out of your home. You can also turn off ceiling fans and close all the open cabinets or closets.
2. Lead Pets Away
Another essential thing to do is to avoid keeping your pets in the same room as the bird.
Cats, dogs, and other animals would react to its presence by barking, meowing, or chasing, leading to more panicking from everyone in the area. That would then lead to more fluttering and squawking, which can result in unwanted incidents.
Thus, immediately lead your pet to another room or space away from the bird. If possible, ensure they can’t get in the room while you’re getting the bird out.
3. Create an Exit
Once your pets are out, you can proceed with the first and easiest method to lure birds out – creating an exit and directing the bird to it. For instance, if the room has several windows and doors, you’ll select which one they will go out of.
But how do you choose? Your best options are the largest or most well-lit exit point. It will be the door if you’re in a room with no windows. But if the door doesn’t lead outside while the windows do, one of the latter may be better.
Once you’ve selected an exit, direct the bird’s attention to it by closing all the other doors, windows, drapes, curtains, and blinds.
Turn off the lights as well, so the exit becomes brighter than the room, attracting the bird. Even at night, you don’t have to worry about turning the lights off – the lamps, moon, or other light sources in the streets will be more attractive to the bird than your dark room.
After that, you can wait for the bird to detect the way out. After a couple of minutes, they’re likely to fly out of the exit.
4. Guide the Bird Out
If you’ve waited for a while and the bird still hasn’t flown out or doesn’t seem to know the way out, you can guide them using a bed sheet or net.
- Using a Bed Sheet
Grab a large bed sheet and hold it out in front of you. Make sure it’s also spread out and that you’re holding up a bed sheet wall at eye level or so.
Then, step in front of the bird with your bed sheet so the bird is between the sheet and the exit point. Slowly walk forward, so you and your bed sheet move and push the bird toward the exit.
- Using a Net
If the bird is in a room with high ceilings, coaxing them out is more challenging as you can’t walk behind them with a bed sheet.
You’ll need a net to get a bird out from a high place. You can use the net to gently guide the bird towards the exit, like with the bed sheet.
In this case, catch a bird in your house with the net. Once the bird is in, you can drape the net and release your feathery friend outside.
5. Contact Professionals
If you have a wild bird in the house or the bird is trapped in an inaccessible place, guiding them out of your home may be more challenging. The best recourse is to call wildlife professionals, bird sanctuaries, or animal control who may expertly remove the bird from your premises.
Professionals are more skilled and better equipped, so they can get rid of a bird without anyone getting injured. Moreover, if the bird is sick, they’ll know how to help the animal or where to take it so that it receives treatment.
Tips to Prevent These Future Visitors
After getting the bird out of your home, here’s what you can do to prevent future visitors:
- Hang shiny objects whose reflected light will bother the bird’s eyes and deter them. You can use CDs, scare tape, aluminum foil, pie plates, or other flashy objects.
- Install fake predator ornaments like owl statues, scarecrows, or rubber snakes. If you have a pet, their presence may keep birds away.
- Deter birds with sounds. You may install wind chimes or play predator sounds over a loudspeaker.
- Remove food and water sources, like birdbaths, feeders, seeds, and scraps.
- Sprinkle baking soda on places birds frequent. They don’t like the feel of the powder, so they’ll avoid landing there again.
- Install bird spikes or anti-roosting devices. You can also create a make-shift anti-roosting device using a slinky and tape.
- Spread commercial or homemade bird repellents.
FAQs
Which Birds Commonly Fly Into My House?
Some birds that commonly fly into houses are wrens, mynahs, crows, and sparrows. However, the species likely to swoop into your home depends on where you live.
For instance, if you live in North America, these are the most common backyard birds, so they’re the most likely to end up in your house:
- American robins
- Mourning doves
- Northern mockingbirds
- White-breasted nuthatches
- American goldfinches
- Downy woodpeckers
- Dark-eyed juncos
- House finches
- Song sparrows
- Chickadees
Why Do Birds Fly Into My House?
Often, birds fly into your house because they are looking for food. They may also see the place as a potential roosting or nesting site. Thus, to prevent birds from swooping in, don’t make it attractive to them by cleaning away scraps or food bits.
If A Bird Flew Into My House, Can I Chase it Away?
It’s not recommended to chase a bird, especially using a broom or some other item. You should not even hold it, and catching it should be a last resort. Instead, let the bird fly out by itself or guide it gently towards an exit with a moving bed sheet wall.
How to Help a Hummingbird Trapped in the House?
Hummingbirds are common in the Eastern USA, so they might fly into your house if you live in that area. Like other birds, you can let them fly out through the most obvious exit or guide the avians towards the door.
If the bird still doesn’t fly out, you can lure it with a bright-colored object. You may also try to catch a hummingbird without hurting it using a light cloth, but that’s the least recommended course of action.
Conclusion
Birds that fly in your home must be led out immediately for everyone’s safety. Thus, here’s how to get a bird out of your house: stay calm, create an exit for the bird, and then wait for them to fly out.
If it doesn’t fly out, you can coax the avian toward the exit using a moving bed sheet wall. You may also use a net if the bird is too high up. But if none of those methods work or the bird is wild or injured, seek a professional’s help.
George and I became friends after a birdwatching trip with our new group. And we have been enjoying every adventure together. When he told me the idea of establishing a site that shares our experiences and fun, I immediately agreed. After trials and errors, here we have Thayerbirding.
