[birdky] Nesting Bird in Chimney

Hi everyone,

I come before you today to ask help in identifying a bird for a friend on a 
message board. From what she is saying and describing, it sounds like a chimney 
swift, but she's not so sure. Below are her descriptions and 2 pictures of the 
nest. Any questions, let me know and I'll relay the information to her.

Thanks!
Nicole McClure- Lexington
c/o a friend in Missouri

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#1
We have a sort of woodstove-esque fireplace - it's big and iron, and you have 
to open two doors to put wood in, and it will reroute air with a fan to blow 
outward to the room. Very cozy!

However, we appear to have some guests. I could hear loud, deep noises for a 
while. It was like the sound of a sliding closet door opening, but no one would 
be home and it was on the wrong side of the house. I guess it was the sound of 
birds taking off inside the chimney. Within the past week, we could hear 
distant, faint chattering noises. It was so dense that it sounded more like the 
water heater hissing or something. But now the chirps are 
DEFINITELY...well...chirps.

They sound like they are RIGHT out of sight. If I open the doors to the 
chimney, the chirping is literally just above my head. Of course, the chimney 
itself could be routing the sound downward and making it a bit of an auditory 
illusion, but they're still pretty close. The chirping is annoying, but I 
understand there is nothing I can do. I don't plan to try and get rid of the 
babies, and I suspect it'll be another two weeks or so of living with my new 
roomies, and then they'll learn to fly, too (poor dears will have to figure out 
straight up instead of flying forward. Not the best choice for a nest!)

However, the issue seems to be the momma and papa birds. Last night there was a 
ton of rustling and flapping coming from the vents around the fireplace. There 
are four metal-covered vents on each corner - I'm not sure if they're connected 
directly to the fireplace or not - and then there are the vents on the sides of 
the actual iron fireplace itself which blow out the air. It sounds like the 
flapping is coming from there, but I can't see anything within it. I also am 
terrified to open the fireplace itself, since...well.   Birds in the house are 
not always fun! However, the times I have there is nothing in there, even if 
the sound seems to come from it.

Is there anything I can do? The flapping has stopped, so maybe the bird got 
out? I opened up the vent on the fireplace that lets the heat go up more easily 
- I assume it would also allow a bird to escape, too. Is there any delicate way 
to actually open the fireplace and NOT let a bird fly loose through our 
basement? I can throw open all of the doors and windows, but that's no 
guarantee.

And to prevent it happening again...would some sort of cage top or wire mesh be 
okay to put on the top of our chimney, so it doesn't happen next year or later 
this summer?

~~~~~~~~~

#2
I just looked them up and the babies certainly sound similar! Can't be certain, 
though. It would make sense that they'd be nesting vertically, though. Neat!

I'll see if I can get a camera and flashlight positioned as necessary to check 
it out.

ETA: I don't think they're chimney swifts. All the pictures I can find of their 
(adorable) homes are little half circles stuck on the side of the chimney. This 
nest is definitely RIGHT there, and, well...



http://i29.tinypic.com/9rhv01.jpg

The second image is just from below looking up.

It's enclosed! I was not expecting that. It's so tightly woven, too - it's just 
a little basket. I'm going to have to see this nest once they're definitely 
gone, but wow. I have absolutely no idea what it is. I'm borderline wondering 
if this IS the nest, but...well. What else could it be?   Did someone 
vindictively stick a basket in my chimney?

They make this hissing/cawwing/screeching noise that sounds like the hiss I 
described when I open and close the damper thing that I'm shooting up through. 
It scares the crud out of me every time. The flash didn't seem to bother them, 
but I don't want to harm them. I might get a bit more adventurous with the 
video capabilities on my camera and see if I can get a shot inside the 
structure, but we'll see.

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