Birds in the vent...

[ynot167]

For the past week, I've been hearing birds in the bathroom vent. It's really annoying. I called someone to clean out the vent and put a birdguard outside, but he said that the birds have to grow first until they are able to fly off on their own which can take up to two weeks. In the meantime, the bathroom is starting to smell pretty bad. Hopefully, there isn't a dead bird up there. That would really suck. What can I do about the smell? Can it be hazardous to my health?

 

[conjur]

mmm....guano!

A year or so ago I had a bird fly into the dryer vent (somehow) and it got Ronco'd by the dryer. Of course, I didn't realize this for a few days until some gawd-awful stench came out of the laundry room.

That was fun to clean..feathers and dead bird stuff everywhere.

 

[DiZASTiX]

Use a scented spray to get rid of the smell...to get the birds out...eat some beans

 

[Bootprint]

We had birds that knew how to flip open the vent guards and fly in. The baby birdge ended up falling down the pipe to the vent over the stove, when you turned the fan on it sounded like it was wacking it.

Took the vent cover over the stove off, out flew the bird and our cat ended up having dinner.

 

[DrPizza]

Didn't finish all of the trim on the vinyl siding last year... I must have 5 nests in the window trim stuff I put up.

 

[ynot167]

Originally posted by: DiZASTiX
Use a scented spray to get rid of the smell...to get the birds out...eat some beans

Beans???????

 

[Zrom999]

What kind of birds are they?
Seal off the vent in your bathroom until the birds move out to stop the smell. Even when the chicks learn to fly they still hang around the parents for a while and live in the nest. House Sparrows and Starlings take care of their young and continue to feed them until they are completely full grown.

 

[ynot167]

Originally posted by: Zrom999
What kind of birds are they?
Seal off the vent in your bathroom until the birds move out to stop the smell. Even when the chicks learn to fly they still hang around the parents for a while and live in the nest. House Sparrows and Starlings take care of their young and continue to feed them until they are completely full grown.

I have no idea what kind of birds they are. I live in New Jersey if that helps. I already sealed off the vent with couple of plastic bags and duct tape. But smell is still there. I'm just worried that smell will get worse because of a possible dead bird. Another thing is that I've got a toddler running around. Hopefully, the smell/particles isn't hazardous to our health.

 

[Zrom999]

A dead bird would most likely be pushed out of the nest, the smell is probably bird droppings. The nest itself might be made up of garbage or some plant material that may be rotting. If you ever seen an old nest close up, it is kind of nasty. Keep your house well ventilated if you are worrying about the harmful affects. Bird droppings are made up of nitric acid which eventually break down into ammonia, but one nest would probably won't create enough of it to be harmful.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: Bootprint
We had birds that knew how to flip open the vent guards and fly in. The baby birdge ended up falling down the pipe to the vent over the stove, when you turned the fan on it sounded like it was wacking it.

Took the vent cover over the stove off, out flew the bird and our cat ended up having dinner.

heh nice irony there

 

[ynot167]

Originally posted by: Zrom999
A dead bird would most likely be pushed out of the nest, the smell is probably bird droppings. The nest itself might be made up of garbage or some plant material that may be rotting. If you ever seen an old nest close up, it is kind of nasty. Keep your house well ventilated if you are worrying about the harmful affects. Bird droppings are made up of nitric acid which eventually break down into ammonia, but one nest would probably won't create enough of it to be harmful.

Thanks for the info...I took it upon myself and borrowed my father-in-law's 20 foot ladder, went to Home Depot to buy a bird guard for $5 and put the thing on myself. I didn't hear any chirping, even when I turned the fan on. It was pretty nasty. I cleaned it out with a vacuum as best as I could. No birds!!! Then I put the bird guard on.

The smell was still there, but not as strong as before. I guess the smell will dissipate in time. Hopefully, the guard stays on. The whole thing took me about an hour.

Just to think, that professional guy was gonna charge me $40!!!