Getting Pigeons and Other Animals Out of the Chimney

Short answer: animal removal from a chimney runs $600 to $1,500 in HomeGuide's 2026 guide, and a new cap so it cannot happen again runs $200 to $850. Most of the time the animal is a pigeon or a nest built in an open flue, under a loose chase cover, or behind a broken cap screen. We take out the animal and nest, clean the droppings and nesting material, and close the opening.

Valley roofs give birds and small animals what they look for: shade under tile, a warm flue, and a chimney that nobody uses for half the year. A gas fireplace sitting idle from May into October is quiet and undisturbed, which is why many calls come in fall, when someone lights the unit for the first time and smells burning twigs, or hears scratching above the firebox.

Signs you need this

• Scratching, cooing or fluttering sounds from inside the fireplace or chase
• Twigs, feathers or droppings on the grate, the gas logs or the hearth
• A burning smell of straw or feathers when the gas unit first runs
• Birds landing on, or flying in and out of, the top of the chimney
• A missing, bent or rusted-through cap or screen on the roof

How we do it

1. Find the way inAt the free inspection we look from the roof and the firebox to see where the animal entered and whether anything is still inside.
2. Remove the animal and nestWe clear the animal and every bit of nesting material from the flue, smoke chamber, damper area or chase.
3. Clean what it leftDroppings and debris come out, and on a gas unit the burner, logs and pilot are cleared so the unit is safe to run.
4. Close the openingA cap with screen goes on, or a damaged chase cover or cap screen is replaced, so the opening is sealed.

Do not light it to smoke them out

It is tempting, and it is a mistake. A nest in the flue can block exhaust, and on a gas fireplace that can push combustion gases into the room. Dry nesting material can also catch fire. Keep the fireplace off, keep the damper or glass closed, and call. If you have a gas fireplace, a working carbon monoxide alarm is a good idea in any case; we recommend one in every home with a gas unit.

If you smell gas, rotten eggs or sulfur, at any point, leave the house first. Do not touch switches, the thermostat or the fireplace controls. From outside, call 911 and Southwest Gas at 1-877-860-6020, which answers around the clock whether or not you are a customer.

Why it happens on newer homes too

Newer homes in the West and Southeast Valley have a metal flue inside a stucco chase. The flue is capped, but the chase cover around it can rust, warp or pull loose at the edges, and the gap between the chase top and the flue cap is enough for a determined bird. On older brick chimneys in central Phoenix, Tempe or Sun City, the usual story is simpler: a chimney that never had a cap, or one whose cap blew off in a monsoon gust.

What a proper cap does

A good cap does three jobs: it keeps rain off the flue, it keeps animals out with a mesh screen, and it stops embers from leaving the chimney on wood fireplaces. On a prefab chase, the cap has to be the right type for the flue, so we match it to the manufacturer's parts rather than using a generic hood. HomeGuide's 2026 range for a cap is $200 to $850.