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How to Get a Hummingbird Out of a Garage

Updated: 9/15/21

This post may contain affiliate or sponsored links. Please read our disclosure policy.

A simple trick on how to get a hummingbird out of a garage. It really works! (See the comments for proof!)

How to Get a Hummingbird Out of a Garage

Guest post and photography by Curt Casteel (Rachel’s Dad)

Every summer a strange phenomenon takes place in many American garages:  Hummingbirds fly in, but they don’t fly out.  They will stay in there, with the door wide open, until they keel over dead.  Weird, right? 

Here’s why it happens, and how to get a hummingbird out of a garage. Time to convince your family you are a “hummingbird whisperer.”

Why Hummingbirds Fly Into Garages

A hummingbird has the metabolism of, well, a hummingbird. Since their next meal is usually found inside something colored bright red, yellow, orange or purple, their tiny brains are programmed to seek these hues. 

Enter the Law of Unintended Consequences. The government requires every electric garage door opener to have a release handle so if it becomes stuck, you can pull this handle to manually raise and lower the door.  

If you step out into your garage and look up, you’ll see that this dangling little handle is, that’s right, RED, and shaped roughly like a trumpet vine flower.  You’re already ahead of me, aren’t you?

The unintended consequence of that red handle is that a hummingbird flies by an open garage, sees a little red “flower” inside, and zips in to investigate.  Upon finding they can’t stick their tongues inside that plastic handle for some nectar, most turn around and leave.  But a surprising number make a fatal error—they fly up. 

Regardless of the reason, once they get it in their heads that “up” is the only way out, they refuse to fly through the open door.

This ends badly.  The confused hummingbird will hover near the ceiling, searching every high corner of the room, until it has to rest, usually on the garage door track or a light fixture.  It will repeat this cycle until it is completely exhausted and dies, which can take only a few of hours.

Emergency release handle in a garage

How to Get a Hummingbird Out of a Garage

Some of you this summer will head out into the garage with the kids to go somewhere, and find one of our little feathered buddies in exactly the situation I’ve described.

Stay cool.

Load the family up in the minivan, back out into the driveway, and tell them, “Watch this.”  Trot back into the garage and grab your leaf rake.  Slowly, slowly move the business end of the rake up to within just a few of inches of the hovering or resting hummingbird.

How to Get a Hummingbird Out of a Garage

Be patient.  It will, depending upon its level of exhaustion, land on the tines of the rake within just a few seconds.

Then very slowly lower the rake a couple of feet and move toward the open door.  Once it sees more blue sky than garage ceiling the hummingbird will probably take off, but it might be so tired it needs to rest a minute even when you are all the way outside. 

All the more time for you to look awesome for little onlookers.

How to Get a Hummingbird Out of a Garage

Congratulations! You just saved a hummingbird’s life!

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Rachel Tiemeyer

Rachel Tiemeyer

As co-founder of Thriving Home, Rachel dreams about creating recipes (literally) and uses her husband, her 3 kids, and even the neighbors as guinea pigs several nights a week. She believes that good food has the power to bring families and friends closer together and continues to wake up excited about her job each day, even after 10+ years!

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  1. AvatarKat Davis says

    Posted on 9/22/22 at 6:47 am

    Thank God for the internet! I was desperate and so was my little bird. I Googled it and found your post. That little bird hopped right on the broom and flew away when we reached the top of the door. Thank you from both of us.

    Reply
  2. AvatarTodd Baughman says

    Posted on 9/17/22 at 11:09 pm

    A broom is a lot more bird friendly than a rake. I get a hummingbird in my shops open doors about once a week. I use a nylon broom Keith great success.

    Reply
    • Rachel TiemeyerRachel Tiemeyer says

      Posted on 9/18/22 at 3:48 pm

      Great tip, Todd. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  3. AvatarAmy says

    Posted on 9/12/22 at 6:54 pm

    The hummingbird was scared of the rake. As soon as my husband switched to a broom it flew right to it!

    Reply
    • Carla FletcherCarla Fletcher says

      Posted on 9/13/22 at 9:12 am

      Good tip Amy! Hopefully if any others find the hummingbird afraid of the rake, they’ll see that a broom worked for you!

      Reply
  4. AvatarRon says

    Posted on 9/12/22 at 8:46 am

    Amazing! This really worked. But be patient. Our trapped sat on the rake right away but flew off when we started to lower it. On third try, after it landed on the rake we lowered it very, very, very slowly. Once it got low enough where it could see the open door and sky, it flew right out. Thanks for the advice!

    Reply
    • Carla FletcherCarla Fletcher says

      Posted on 9/12/22 at 9:30 am

      So glad this worked for you! Thanks for the reminder to lower the rake slowly.

      Reply
  5. AvatarGina O says

    Posted on 9/4/22 at 3:19 pm

    This worked! Thank you!!!

    Reply
    • Carla FletcherCarla Fletcher says

      Posted on 9/5/22 at 10:37 am

      So glad to hear it!

      Reply
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