How to Get a Hummingbird Out of a Garage
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A simple trick on how to get a hummingbird out of a garage. It really works! (See the comments for proof!)
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.
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.
Be patient. It will, depending on 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.
Congratulations! You just saved a hummingbird’s life!
I am so thankful I found your site. We had a hummingbird get trapped in our shop, and she was buzzing around the very top, probably almost 30 feet in the air. After trying everything from turning the lights off to placing a feeder outside the shop, I started searching for other solutions. I had a long extendable fishing net that I duct taped another extendable wash brush to and then put about 8” of red duct tape on the end. She was so exhausted, because by then she’d been buzzing around for about 3.5 hours. I stood on the picnic table in the shop and put the long “perch” in the air and leaned it against a beam to keep it steady, and she finally landed and tried to eat on the red duct tape, so I slowly brought it down and moved her towards the door and she flew out! Huge opening with the whole end of the shop open, but I read when they get trapped they only go up and they will exhaust themselves and die in only a few hours. I considered leaving her overnight, but I’m glad I read otherwise. I’m new to having hummingbirds around our place, but am very happy I was able to save her little life. Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions!
You are the guru! It actually worked!!!
Got one out today, used a push broom, didn’t have a rake. Landed on it after a few minutes and slowly brought it down, as soon as it saw the sky it flew right out of the garage. I was really getting worried as he was in there for a few hours, continually flying into the ceiling and landing on a cable in the garage. Im sure it was exhausted.
I can’t believe that worked! Thanks!
Wonderful!
This worked for me! took 3 tries, but only about 10 mins. thanks!
We were so worried as we didn’t know how long the poor little hummingbird was in the garage. I used the rake but hung my hummingbird feeder on it. Reached way up as our garage has a 20′ ceiling. It finally landed to feed and I slowly lowered the rake below the garage door and out while the hummingbird hovered and fed. Thank you so much.
Another hummingbird saved!
I tried the rake method, maybe I was not patient or smoth enough, it did not work even though it was obvious that she was exhausted. I hung one of my feeders on a wire about 6 inches below the top of my enterence door. Within 2 minutes she came for a drink and flew right out the door.
Thanks so much – it worked perfectly. We opened the garage windows too and that was where we let him out! Then I got on a ladder and covered those red handles with black duct tape. I love hummingbirds!
I did what you told me to do and it worked the bird was so tiny but we saved it with lots patients it worked
The rake did not work for me. Poor little girl was so tired. I finally got a hanging basket of petunias and put that on a rake. She started feeding on the flowers and we slowly lowered the flowers down, got her outside and then she flew back into the garage. Once again we put the flowers up to her, lowered her out and as soon as my husband got her outside, I closed the garage door. 2 and a half hours of frantically running around trying to save the little girl.
So glad you didn’t give up!
Worked like a charm. Had to remember to be patient. We have quite a few wires in our garage so I had to convince it to land on the rake. Took 2 tries but he was out in less than 15 minutes. Kids had fun watching the whole process
Great news!
Worked perfectly in seconds!!! THANK YOU!
Wonderful news!
We tried everything to get a hummingbird out of a garage including other things people suggested on Google. so we waited until Dusky dark and then went out with a flashlight and I shined the flashlight on the ceiling near a step ladder and the little bird landed on the light on the ceiling and I just reached up and picked him up he was tired! So then I carried him outside and shut the door behind me and made sure he wouldn’t get back in the garage and then I release the little bird to Mother Nature. Success at last!!! And he flew UP when he flew away!!!
I had success holding up a long branch of the bush they live on – a Butterfly Bush from my backyard. Worked!! Whew, what a long 2 hours before I tried this….didn’t have a rake .
Got my hummer out of garage using pole with red feeder on end. then guided her out the open door.
by the way the feeder worked after less than 10 seconds, and slowly moved it toward the door and outside while the hummer was hovering around it. She must have been hungry.
We found a beautiful male hummingbird in our garage. He was extremely frightened. Even after a good 20 minutes he wouldn’t land on our broom (we don’t have a rake). After reading the comments here, we affixed a fake flower that we put a floral essential oil on though, and that did the trick. Poor little guy was bleeding a bit, and sat still on the broom for a very long time before flying away. In the end we sang him a little lullaby to unsettle his poor nerves, and that seemed to perk him up ? Sure hope he’ll be okay. Such lovely little birds!
A poor little hummingbird was caught in garage for hours – we alternated between trying to shoo her out and leaving her alone to fly out the front southern door, or turning off all lights and only having the eastern small door open to the bright outdoors. But she would only keep banging her beak against the ceiling. Finally I found this rake trick. We only have a small green children’s rake, but after her third landing, she stayed long enough, and I walked slowly enough, to bring her to the great outdoors. Thank you for your advice!