This is a common
and potentially frustrating problem for wildlife rescues. The difficulty is this
scenario involves little hands on rescuing of the bird itself and often involves
more DIY or even professional building work. Please bear in mind that wildlife
rescues operate entirely on donations so have very limited resources. They may
not be able to send a volunteer rescuer out unless specialist wildlife handling
skills are required. There is little point them coming out if what is actually
needed is someone to move a fitted fire for example.
Much depends on what
is at the bottom of your chimney. If it is open at the bottom then you should
start by trying to tempt the bird out under it's own steam. Leave the room and
open any windows, pulling back any curtains. Place a torch at the base of the
chimney and hopefully the bird will head towards the light and out the window.
Try this for a few hours, remembering to keep the room completely
quiet.
If you have no luck with this, try to look up the chimney using
your torch and get an idea of where in the chimney the bird is. Many chimneys
have a ledge a short way up and birds often settle there. They can then usually
be reached and removed quite easily. If the bird is healthy, adult and unharmed
you can release it immediately if it is daylight. If it's dark then keep it in a
box overnight with some water and seed, bread or broken biscuit.
If the
bird is further up, cannot be reached or is injured or looking sickly then call
a wildlife rescue for further assistance.
If the chimney is blocked at
the bottom by a fitted fire then the first step will be to get the fire removed.
You will need to arrange for this to be done yourself. If it is a gas
fire then it will need to be moved by a registered corgi engineer. You should
then follow the steps above as for an unblocked chimney.
If the chimney is sealed at the bottom then the only way to
help the bird will be to make a hole in your wall! You need to decide if you are
willing to have this done and you need to have someone there who will do this.
It would be unfair to ask a volunteer from a wildlife rescue to do this. Again
once the hole is made follow the advice as for an open chimney.