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Starling in the loft

LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
in Problem solving
Help!  Does anyone have any idea how to remove a starling (humanely if at all possible) from the loft, please?

I went up there to investigate a noise we'd been hearing, and there it was... flying about, in a panic.  I've left the loft light on and given it some food and water, but I'm not sure what to do next.   :o
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
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Posts

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Turn the loft light off ideally so it can see the daylight of the hole it came in through. Or if you're brave enough leave the hatch open so it comes down into the house and try to direct it towards an open window.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    It found its way in … it’ll find its way out.  @wild edges suggestion is spot on 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Thanks both.  It's been there for at least 24 hours so I think it's a bit dim... maybe the loft hatch is the way to go...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    That’s what we did when we got a blackbird in our loft .It got in under the eaves somehow and we left the loft hatchway open and the landing light on . It came out and we opened the front door and off it went . Lot of poo in the loft but .
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    And it worked.   :)

    Thanks all... now to find out how it got in...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    We used to get jackdaws down the chimney in our last house - we had to let them out through the "soot door" above the stove (having first shut the cat out).  One visitor left beautiful sooty wing marks on the ceiling.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I wonder if it was prospecting for a new nest site and got confused?
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    I guess so.  I just hope it doesn't try again - though at least I know what to do next time.   :)
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • alexryzawlskiqBU-X4OFalexryzawlskiqBU-X4OF Posts: 163
    Starlings seem pretty stupid at getting stuck in homes. I had a starling that I had too free from a stove fire place that got stuck (dont worry it wasnt on and the poor thing was unharmed) It also happened again recently and I found one dead after being on holiday. Very sad. 
    Happy Gardening
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited March 2023
    Dovefromabove said:
    It found its way in … it’ll find its way out.  @wild edges suggestion is spot on 😊 
    Sorry, but that doesn't necessarily follow.

    One half-term, I came back from Belgium to my empty UK house.  I found a dead, and dried-out, bat in my lounge.  I might have come down the chimney.  It could have spread lots of soot about, but was quite soot-free.

    On another half-term I found a dead Great Tit in a mousetrap in my kitchen.  No entry ideas.  After that I put plastic supermarket meat-trays to cover the traps.  I now do the same in my greenhouse.

    When living in Dartmoor, an aged neighbour came round for my help.  He had a panicking swift in his loft.  It might have been exhauste but I caught it easily with gloved hands and released it.  After that I became an accepted villager, not just an incomer.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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