Something is chirping or scratching inside my chimney

Likely causes, most common first

The sound, the season and the time of day sort out who is in the flue, listed here in the order we meet them.

1. Most common

   Vaux's swifts roosting for the fall migration, or nesting

   The sign: A chattering rush of small birds dropping into the flue at dusk from mid August into October, or one nest's steady chirping in early summer.

   The fix: Swifts stay; federal law protects the birds, they move on by mid October, and a sweep and a screened cap follow so next year's flock roosts elsewhere. Chimney Cap Installation, from $299

2. Common

   A raccoon, often a mother with kits on the smoke shelf

   The sign: Heavy scratching and chattering behind the damper at night, a musky smell, and daytime cries like puppies in spring.

   The fix: The raccoon and her kits are taken out alive, the shelf is cleaned of droppings and bedding, and a cap shuts the flue behind them. Chimney Animal Removal, from $249

3. Common

   A starling or another bird trapped against the damper or in the firebox

   The sign: Fluttering and soft thumps at any hour, a bird visible behind the glass doors, or puffs of soot falling past the damper.

   The fix: The bird is lifted out and released, and the flue above is checked for the nest it fell from. Chimney Animal Removal, from $249

4. Less common

   A squirrel that fell in and cannot climb out

   The sign: Daytime scrabbling, nut shells or gnawed debris on the smoke shelf, plus a smooth clay liner it keeps sliding back down.

   The fix: The squirrel is removed, the top of the liner is checked for chew damage, and the cap goes on. Chimney Animal Removal, from $249

5. Less common

   An old nest or a dead animal in the flue

   The sign: A sour, sweet smell when the damper opens, twigs and feathers dropping into the firebox, flies, or silence after days of noise.

   The fix: The flue is cleared and swept, a camera checks the liner where the nest sat, and the smell leaves with its cause. Chimney Sweep, from $249

Two minutes of safe checks

Identify the animal from the hearth with your ears, your nose and a flashlight, without opening the damper or reaching past it.

• Note when the noise happens: dusk and dawn with many voices is swifts, night is a raccoon, daytime scampering is a squirrel, and one bird fluttering at any hour is trapped.
• Watch the chimney top from the yard at dusk in September; a swirl of small birds funneling in is a roost, and that flue waits until they have gone.
• Smell at the closed damper: musk is a raccoon, sour and sweet is a dead animal or an old nest, and no smell at all usually means birds.
• From the ground, check whether the flue has a cap; an open clay tile or a bent, rusted screen is the way in.
• If something is loose in the firebox itself, keep the screen closed, keep pets out, and leave the lights low so it settles.

Nothing on this list needs a ladder, the roof or a lit fire. Leave those to the visit.

Swifts in September: what happens and what waits

Vaux's swifts roost in Portland chimneys on their way south every fall, and a chimney full of them is left alone until the last bird leaves. The flue is not swept, capped, smoked or lit while they are in it.

Chapman Elementary in the Northwest District hosted the famous roost for about forty years until 2024, and the birds now use other chimneys around the city. Portland roosts run from mid August into October; a nest in early summer empties when the young fly.

The federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act bars killing, capturing or transporting swifts without prior authorization. The birds leave on their own, the sweep waits until the flue is empty, and a screened cap fitted afterward keeps the next flock from choosing your flue.

Raccoons, squirrels and starlings: what the removal looks like

Raccoons come out by hand, kits first, and the flue is closed behind them the same day. They climb down an uncapped flue to den on the smoke shelf behind the damper, and a mother brings her kits there in spring.

Squirrels usually fall in rather than climb in, and a clay tile liner is too smooth to climb back out of, so the scrabbling is the same animal trying over and over. It is lifted out from the firebox, and the top of the liner is checked for gnawing.

Starlings build bulky nests in a flue from spring on, and one nest can fill a tile across. The nest comes out once it is empty, the flue is swept of what the birds left behind, and the cap goes on before the next spring.

What happens after the animal is out

Removal is the short part of the visit; these three steps keep the flue clear and the smell gone.

1. Clearing and sweeping the flue

   Nest material, droppings, bedding and feathers come out of the smoke shelf and the flue, and the flue is brushed and vacuumed so the sour smell and the mites that come with a nest do not linger in the house.

2. Checking the liner

   A camera run follows when a nest sat in the flue for long or an animal died in it, because droppings and decay are acidic and a nest that was ever lit under can crack a tile. You see the images before anything is priced.

3. Fitting the cap

   A stainless cap with a screened side goes on the flue the same visit, sized so the mesh keeps swifts, starlings and squirrels out without choking the draft. A cap fitted in winter means an empty flue when the swifts come looking in August.

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