How to Get Rid of a Singing Bird Who Sings All Night

Mockingbirds sometimes sing all night long.

In the spring and summer, these birds frequently sing throughout the night to attract mates or defend their territories. Sometimes, there is not much that you can do but drown out the song with earplugs or sound machines. However, there are several ways you might be able to get rid of the bird humanely in order to enjoy a good night’s rest.

1. Locate the tree where the bird usually perches and cover it with netting that is normally used to keep birds out of fruit trees. The bird is then forced to look for a perch somewhere else, hopefully far away from your bedroom window. Make sure to check the netting every morning as smaller birds can get trapped in it, in which case you need to disentangle them and set them free.

2. Hose down the tree with water in the evening. The bird may be reluctant to perch on the wet branches at night.

3. Play the call of a mockingbird during the day via your stereo. You can record the call live or get it from a birdsong CD. The taped call could trick the bird into thinking it has a rival on the same territory, causing it to move somewhere else to find a mate.

Warning

Whatever you do, do not try to kill or hurt the bird. It is just trying to find a mate and breed, causing you no harm other than temporarily affecting your sleep. It will stop singing within a few weeks as soon as the mating and breeding seasons have passed. Moreover, most wild birds are federally protected in the U.S., and killing or injuring them is illegal.