Does anyone know of any resources/suggestions on getting trapped birds out of office buildings?

May 23, 2008 8:21 AM

I work in a pretty large office building, and while walking the bi-level lobby floors I always hear trapped birds chirping and see them hopping around...

I have no idea how they get in, there multiple sets of revolving doors, and are also regular side glass doors that are never left hanging open. The only other entrance is a subway entrance, with multiple revolving doors before anyone is able to access outside. More detail following:

I've overheard someone once say that he brought in birdseed and left it in some of the planters to feed them. But I was wondering if anyone has ever worked as a janitor in a building and had to address the situation. This can't be a unique problem, and I'm wondering if there are any resources that I can contact, or if there's anything I can do aside from throwing birdseed at them. I don't want to call Animal Control, that name just has a negative connotation to me, I associate "control" with "kill"?

I'm not really trying to take on solving the problem myself, just wondering what others have done in this situation/previous experiences.

posted by BlackStrapMolasses to pets & animals (1 comment total)

While I'm not a janitor for an office building, small birds occasionally get trapped in my greenhouse. I use a supersoaker to gently (not 'blast them out of the sky' mode) spray the birds until their feathers are too wet to fly, then scoop them up and take them back outside. They dry off and fly away in a few minutes. The smallest birds I've done this to have been hummingbirds (frequent visitors), the largest was a house finch.
posted by jamaro at 9:45 AM on May 23