Birds in my home exhaust vent

[Trice]

Anyone have this happen? I used to laugh when I saw them flying in and out of my neighbor's vent so naturally it happened to me. And it's up above a second-story window where I have no interest in climbing on a ladder. Any recommendations for pest companies that could remove and disinfect? (I wouldn't have thought to disinfect but from what I read this is important.) Any any recommendations on vent covers that will keep this from happening?

 

[1100011CS]

What kind of exhaust fan are we talking about?

 

[CycoCyclone]

furnace? sewer?

 

[DurangoCy]

You might have a dead bird laying at the base of your dryer where the vent outlets - check that.

We had this happen in college and couldn't figure out why our clothes smelled like death for several days before we finally decided to do some disassembling of things. It sucked.

 

[Trice]

What kind of exhaust fan are we talking about?

Standard bathroom exhaust fan vent. The cover looks like this except without the inner mesh part, it's just the outer flaps, which birds can obviously get through.

EDIT: I will elaborate. There is no dead bird that we're aware of. We see one or more flying in and out of the vent cover. We can hear them coming/going from the bathroom below the vent. We think there may be a nest there but have not confirmed that. I don't even have a ladder that high and I don't have much interest in getting up there.

 

[tim_redd]

 

[3GenClone]

I had birds nesting in one of the exhaust vents in the attic. I went up there, removed the nest (thankfully nobody was home) and used some chicken wire to keep them out.

 

[laminak]

We had that issue a few years ago. We had a few very high (with dead birds even caught in there), so we called Orkin. Other than removal, we had them place cages around the vent exhausts to keep out the birds. Haven't had an issue in the last few years.

 

[JBone84]

I had this same situation happen to me in my last house - birds in bathroom vent, second story. I had to go up into the attic, disconnect the duct from the vent outlet with the birds in there (they had nested and babies were in there), squish closed the end real quick, put plastic bag over squished end, then unsquish and dump the birds and nest into the bag.

I dumped all the birds out in the yard. Covered vent with simple plastic vent cover from Menards - had to stand on top of very unsafe ladder to accomplish this task.

 

[Chitowncy]

Anyone have this happen? I used to laugh when I saw them flying in and out of my neighbor's vent so naturally it happened to me. And it's up above a second-story window where I have no interest in climbing on a ladder. Any recommendations for pest companies that could remove and disinfect? (I wouldn't have thought to disinfect but from what I read this is important.) Any any recommendations on vent covers that will keep this from happening?

This made me laugh as well.... uh oh, does that mean the birds are coming for me now too...

Seriously though, I haven't had this experience yet so I'm not able to provide any recommendations, but I will second your insistence on disinfecting the nesting area. A friend had bats "roost" in the bathroom exhaust outlet and it eventually caused a smell in the bathroom as they were gone all summer and the bats' guano started piling up apparently. I don't think anyone had respiratory issues or other illness because of it, but I wouldn't want to chance it.

 

[3TrueFans]

Send a couple cats up there.

 

[2020cy]

Fire. Kill them with fire.

 

[StClone]

No doubt it is Starlings. An absolute nuisance alien species that is not protected. A possible solution is to make a big tangle of fine fishing line and entangle it over the vent with a long pole. The Starlings will get balled up in this and decide to leave.

 

[cycloner29]

Spray some hairspray in the vent. Light it. Wait for the blue flame to burst out either the end of the vent. Listen for any rattling sound. If no sound, you were successful. If you see any smoke, call 911.

 

[JayV]

Be happy it's birds. It was a big brown bat in mine. Had about a 1-foot wingspan. We got it into the bathroom (with the door shut) caught it in a towel and released it back into the night. Wasn't fun, but it was an impressive animal.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I have a bird story.

Had a big black bird that got into the upstairs of my old house (got through a spot that squirrels had chewed in a corner). Saw feathers and stuff, and looked all over. Since I couldn't find him, I figured he found his way out. A week later I started to smell something. Looked all over. Finally found him. When I was searching for him, I slid the TV stand back and apparently pinned him to the opposite wall in the process. That bird had some bad luck.