Bird in roof

[AndersonC]

Not the female type.

Just finished sorting my loft out and this morning while dong the timber hatch frame I heard noises in the roof, in the gap between the plasterboard fixed to the rafters and the slates.

To my surprise (and annoyance) a bloody starling appeared from a ventilation gap in the plasterboard.

Obviously the ridiculous weather of the last few weeks has dislodged something enabling the bird to get in. I will have to get some ladders and inspect everything - a ground level look with binoculars has not revealed much.

However I also need to get this damn bird out. Any tips - should I just try and kill it?? Hope it goes out where it came in - I suppose it will get hungry and have to find food at some point?

I am gutted about this after spending a lot of effort sorting the loft - any advice welcomed.

 

[noseall]

are your roof tiles heavily profiled?

 

[AndersonC]

Noseall,

Can you clarify what you mean by heavily profiled.

The roof is slated - just standard rectangular slates overlapping each other.

Thanks

 

[noseall]

i thought that if they were 'wavey' as some interlocking concrete tiles are, then there is ample room at the eaves and just above the fascia board, for the birds to get in.

surprisingly small holes will admit birds easily. you need to be vigilant. bird muck around the opening is sometimes a giveaway. fill up the hole/s before nesting season begins.

 

[AndersonC]

OK I will get some ladders and have a good session rounds the fascias/soffits etc. When is nesting season out of interest?

Still don't know how to get the bird out of the roof though - maybe it'll go off to find food. It's not likely to damage anything is it? (other than my sanity!)

Thanks for the tips noseall

 

[big-all]

when i had a bird in my loft i left the hatch open and the lights off in the loft i also left a bedroom window open as well as the door and left it for 20 mins by which time it was in the bedroom then 5 mins with the bedroom door shut it escaped out the window

 

[noseall]

When is nesting season out of interest?

march/april is usually when they start building nests.

 

[AndersonC]

when i had a bird in my loft i left the hatch open and the lights off in the loft i also left a bedroom window open as well as the door and left it for 20 mins by which time it was in the bedroom then 5 mins with the bedroom door shut it escaped out the window

OK I'll give this a try BA, that's if it's still up there.

F'king house, it's one thing after the next!!

 

[jlacd]

Put a cat in the roof?

Maybe not - I once had a cat end up in the bottom of a cavity wall while redoing an upstairs bathroom. Took power-tools to get the wee fecher out.

 

[diyisfree]

jclad

 

[PilotPete]

I've ahds a similar problem with 'wavey' concrete interlocking tiles. Isn't there some sort of plastic 'comb' which you attach to the wood and the combs mould around the underside of the roof tiles?