See it: Hundreds of birds fly into LA home
A California family recently came home to find hundreds of uninvited guests.
"We walked into a nightmare."
That was how Patrick Belleville of Torrence, Los Angeles described his recent ordeal to KTLA.
"Every room -- bathrooms, bedrooms -- they were all full of birds."
Upon finding the birds in his home, Patrick brought his family to a hotel and then spent the next few days removing them by hand. He's not sure how many there were, saying he "stopped counting" after 800 birds were shown the door.
And while it sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime event, this isn't the first time this has occurred.
It happened in Montecito, California earlier this month. In 2014, birds paid a visit to a home further north, in California's Exeter region.
And they do more than fly around. Video captured by Belleville shows the birds knocked things over and left droppings everywhere.
WHAT'S GOING ON?
Each year in the spring and fall, small migratory birds called Vaux’s swifts leave Canada and hit the Los Angeles area on their way to breeding grounds in the north or to warmer southern temperatures in the fall.
They love to congregate in chimneys to sleep or rest and, if they choose yours and the flue open, there's a chance they could fly inside, with numbers reaching the thousands.
You're more likely to see this happen in California because migrating birds are weary from their long journey.
Experts say one of the easiest ways to prevent birds from roosting in your chimney is to install a chimney cap.
