Even if you open the door and windows, a hummingbird trapped in your garage will likely not get out on its own. Instead, the bird will keep flying about, constantly banging against the ceiling.
A hummingbird will keep doing this until it tires and could eventually die from lack of food and energy.
Instead of leaving the bird to find its way out, you can help the poor thing. Read on for tips on how to get a hummingbird out of your garage.
What You'll Learn Today
Why Do Hummingbirds Get Trapped In Garages?
While hummingbirds eat lots of bugs and other small insects, they also rely a lot on nectar for energy.
They use their excellent vision to spot brightly colored flowers, particularly red ones, which are more likely to have nectar with higher sugar content.
It’s this instinct that inevitably gets them trapped in garages and other structures. While flying about, they will spot something colorful in an open garage. It can be a bright red container or, more commonly, the red emergency release cord on the garage door.
The hummingbird flies in to investigate and gets trapped.
But why can’t it just fly back out? After all, it has great vision.
The problem is that once the hummingbird is trapped, its instinct is to fly upwards to try and escape. That’s why trapped humming birds constantly hit against the ceiling. It doesn’t flow low enough to get a peek outside the door and realize there’s a way out.
If you don’t help the bird, it could stay there flapping and hovering endlessly until it tires and collapses on the ground or rests on an object. Without food, the hummingbird could die in a few hours.
3 Ways To Get A Hummingbird Out Of Your Garage
Opening the garage door and any windows is a good first step to helping the hummingbird. But don’t stop there. It’s very unlikely the bird will find its way out.
Also, trying to shoo the bird out will not work. It’ll just keep trying to fly up towards the ceiling.
The trick to getting a hummingbird out of the garage — or any other structure — is to lure or bring it lower to the ground such that it can see outside and fly out on its own.
There are several ways of doing this.
1. Lure the bird down with something bright
Take advantage of a hummingbird’s attraction to bright colors to lure it down from the ceiling and towards the garage door.
You’ll need something bright and colorful like a bunch of flowers (such as trumpet vines), a bright hummingbird feeder or any red object.
Place the flowers or feeder somewhere high, but low enough that the hummingbird can fly out of the door. The roof of your car works great, if the car is in the garage.
You can also place it on a step ladder. Position the ladder close to the garage door.
Now stand back and wait for the hummingbird to spot the colorful target. Once it comes down, it’ll have a better view outside and will likely fly out.
You can also try placing another feeder or bunch of flowers right outside the garage or hang it below the garage door to lure the bird outside.
Alternatively, stand near or right under the garage door and hold a bunch of colorful flowers in your hand and let the hummingbird come down to you.
2. Use a rake or broomstick to lower the hummingbird
If the hummingbird has been flapping about for a while, it’s probably already quite exhausted. At this point, you don’t need to lure it with something colorful. It’ll be easier to lower the bird down yourself.
Get something long like a broomstick or rake. Hold it up just a few inches under the bird. The aim is to give the hummingbird a place to perch and rest.
It may take a few tries to get the bird to rest on the broomstick. Once it does, gently lower the broomstick or rake and hold it close to the open garage door. Once the bird sees the sky outside, it’ll likely fly off.
But if the hummingbird was really tired, it may take a few minutes for it to gather its strength and fly away.
One trick I’ve come across is to tie a bunch of flowers on a broomstick to lure the hummingbird to perch on it.
3. The umbrella method
Another truck I’ve seen is using an umbrella to bring down the hummingbird and get it outside.
Tie an open umbrella to something long like a broomstick or rake. Make sure it’s long enough that the umbrella can touch the garage ceiling.
The goal is to trap the hummingbird under the umbrella. Because the hummingbird’s instinct will be to keep flying up, it’ll stay inside the open umbrella and you can gently guide it down and outside.
Lift the umbrella close to the ceiling and try to raise it above the hummingbird. It may take a while to get the bird under the umbrella, but it works.
Here’s a video of this method in action.
Tip: You can attach something colorful like flowers or a red bowtie to the inside of the umbrella to help lure the hummingbird inside.
How To Keep Hummingbirds From Getting Trapped In Your Garage
Once you get the hummingbird out of the garage, look for what may have attracted it inside. Usually, it’s the red emergency release cord on the garage door.
Many homeowners with a hummingbird problem opt to cover the cord with black tape to prevent it from luring birds inside.
It could also be some other colorful object in the garage like a red toolbox or container on the shelf. Keep colorful objects out of sight or cover them with something.
It also helps to keep the garage door closed most of the time. Humming birds can see really well and will easily spot something colorful in an open garage from far off.
