Birds in Bathroom Vents

I am amazed at how persist birds are at finding nesting areas. The birds near our house have figured out how to get through the flaps that cover vent pipes that lead to bathroom vent fans. The covers are maybe 4 inch by 4 inch in area and have 4 one inch slats that are hinged that open when the fan is blowing air out of the bathroom.

We would hear a bird moving in the pipe on Saturday mornings in the upstairs bathroom. So I went into the attic and found that the 3 foot flexible pipe contained dead grass and twine. I tried to block the pipe with mesh but the bird pushed through it. So we got a ladder and installed a bird/rodent cage over top the outer flaps. The cage can be obtained from Home Depot for about $10.

We were out this evening digging a sidewalk that will go around the side of the house and I heard a bird fluttering near the house next door. It looked like a starling with a plastic wrapper in its mouth. It was trying to get into the flap but could not after 3 attempts. The fourth attempt it took its talons and grabbed onto the bottom of the frame and swung up using its beak to pop open one of the flaps. It got the flap open and squeezed into the hole but lost the plastic wrapper. I wish I could have caught this with the camera.