10

In one of my bathrooms on the top floor, I can loudly hear noises that sound somewhat like a bird. The sounds have been going for about a month now. What's going on? Should I be concerned?

The video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Klxp-mVuQw4jqS95TmrX_WD-_BkyFRKZ/view?usp=sharing

Proxy303
  • 574
  • 1
  • 4
  • 16
  • 2
    That's a pretty wild set of sounds. I'd sure want to know what's up--I hear both animal and mechanical noises, at least through my phone's tiny speaker. That said, your question is vague and opinion-based. Why not investigate and ask something specific that we can actually help resolve? – isherwood Dec 06 '21 at 13:46
  • 14
    No. Just leave me in peace :) – Solar Mike Dec 06 '21 at 13:59
  • WOW. just a guess here but it sounds like a bird caught in ductwork. Check the air vent outlet for your bathroom fan for damage. Birds like secluded spaces and it's amazing where they can get into. ...but this is just a guess. If it were my house, I'd def. figure it out. If an animal (bird, squirrel, mice, etc.) dies up there you'll have a smelly mess on your hands. – George Anderson Dec 06 '21 at 15:30
  • 13
    @GeorgeAnderson Slightly macabre, but if the bird was caught in the ductwork then the noise would have subsided well before the 1 month mark as describe by OP. Something has likely taken residence. – MonkeyZeus Dec 06 '21 at 17:46
  • 2
    Animal noises for a month? Something's living in your house. – Loren Pechtel Dec 07 '21 at 01:59
  • From what I hear, I suspect a bird to have chosen your attic for its home. It seems to be doing both singing and making a racket to mark its territory. There are numerous examples of [woodpeckers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNSxCLYKgys) [drumming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0v-CukKW5Y) on [stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njq6pz5BNCc). Someone over at [bio.SE](http://biology.stackexchange.com) can probably guess what kind of bird is living in your attic. Whether this is reason for concern is up to debate. I'd be annoyed more than concerned about the house. – Hermann Dec 07 '21 at 08:30
  • 3
    If you have woodpeckers drumming in your attic, that would suggest there is an insect problem as well. – rtaft Dec 07 '21 at 13:42
  • Other than birds, there is also a good chance this is a squirrel's nest. They can chew their way into your attic easily or fine other ways on, and their babies kind of sound like birds as well. Squirrels can do a lot of serious damage in an attic, like chewing through electrical wires and so on. – PhilippNagel Dec 07 '21 at 14:09
  • Voted to close this question. Please do a little more research. Look in the attic. Look for animals coming and going. Try to determine the nature of your problem and ask a question that can be answered based on facts. You should not allow wild animals to nest inside your house, but all we have here are noises and as noted in other comments, these could be a combination of animal and mechanical sounds coming from inside or outside your house. Guessing whether it's woodpeckers or squirrels may be fun but it's not home improvement. – jay613 Dec 07 '21 at 14:19
  • @rtaft woodpeckers will also drum to establish territory, and to hollow out a cavity to use as a nest. I can be suggestive of insects, but it's far from certain. It had one that managed to open up a hole in the siding and was getting ready to move in to the wall cavity. – Z4-tier Dec 07 '21 at 16:05
  • Speaking from experience birds also will like to nest in broken vent exhausts, like your dryer or bathroom fan exhaust. I had to go as far as to get stainless steel mesh to go over top as they broke the plastic grille off – element11 Dec 07 '21 at 17:20

2 Answers2

20

You should always be concerned about a new noise in your house. Examine the outside upper story soffit framing to see if any soffits are missing or broken. If so, there's a good chance something's crawled/flown up there. Get a good flashlight and check out the attic by slowly opening the access door/panel and looking around. If you find something up there, well that's another question.

JACK
  • 72,186
  • 15
  • 68
  • 170
  • 3
    Yeah why wouldn't you investigate. Its been like this for a entire MONTH and you haven't thought to check it out ? – GamerGypps Dec 07 '21 at 11:47
  • 2
    @GamerGypps Denial is a powerful instinct. People are highly prone to ignoring warning signs because it's comforting to pretend it's nothing to worry about. – J... Dec 07 '21 at 14:20
  • 5
    @GamerGypps: People live busy lives, and sometimes it's easier to just hope whatever's causing an issue will just go away on its own. – V2Blast Dec 07 '21 at 15:48
  • in addition to the soffits, take a good close look at the exterior walls. Woodpeckers are extremely persistent when they find a place that they want to call home. – Z4-tier Dec 07 '21 at 15:58
4

Do woodpeckers live in your vicinity ?

That rattling sound with a few slower bangs after it really sounds like a woodpecker hammering.
The other noises are certainly birds.

That isn't necessarily inside your attic. You be surprised how sound can carry through a structure if it is being knocked on from the outside. And an attic in particular can act like a sound-box amplifying sounds in a strange way.

I would take a flash-light and get into the attic space.
Wait until it starts again (might take a while) while keeping still. You might see movement from bird activity or get a better feel from where the sounds are really come from.

Tonny
  • 735
  • 4
  • 10
  • 1
    I was going to suggest the same thing. I've had them get into my wall before, and they can be surprisingly noisy once they get in there. Even before looking in the attic, I'd recommend going outside and very closely examining the exterior walls for any holes. In my case, the hole was around the size of a golf ball. – Z4-tier Dec 07 '21 at 15:55
  • I'm not sure. Are there woodpeckers in central Maryland? – Proxy303 Dec 09 '21 at 17:07
  • @Proxy303 woodpeckers live in almost any woodland worldwide. Only madagaskar and Australia don’t have any woodpecker species. So there should be some in Maryland too – Tonny Dec 09 '21 at 17:30