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!
Thank you! I was able to save two hummingbirds today in West Tennessee! ?
HElp. One got in house with2 story rafters
Thank you so much for this post! We just used our big floor squeegy to rescue a hummingbird in Iowa. And then wrapped the dangling red handles with black tape.
Love hearing this, Ann!
Thank you so very much!! We did exactly what you said to do and it worked perfectly! Your advice saved a precious little hummingbird here in Iowa. Blessings!
You save a Tennessee hummingbird’s life tonight! Thank you so much!
None of the methods mentioned worked for me. I closed the garage door, turned off all the lights and used a flashlight to blind and get the hummingbird to sit still enough in one place so he could be gently captured. Then I released him outside then I released him outside. Ideally, a butterfly net would work good, but I used my hands.
Added a little sugar water to the tines and a piece of straw that just happened to be in the rake-bonus.
Took a little effort but it worked.
“UP” perfect!
Thanks. Worked great. Once he tired out he stayed on the rake and on his way to freedom.
Works like a charm!! I used a metal rake… Poor thing was exhausted… Luckly I have a number of feeders in the yard so it can replenish.
Thanks for posting!!
I have extra tall garage ceilings so I was unable to get the rake high enough and keep it steady long enough for the hummingbird to rest. She kept resting on the wires that control the garage door opener which were out of my reach. I wasn’t too concerned because I thought it I left the garage doors open she would eventually fly out. Fortunately, I found your site that educated me otherwise and impressed upon me that time was of the essence. The sweet little creature had been in my garage for nearly 24 hours; as soon as I read your information telling me she would not fly out on her own and would perish from exhaustion I knew I had to do something immediately. When I was unsuccessful with the rake (due to the height of the garage ceilings) I collected a few flower pots with flowering red geraniums and cut a large red hibiscus flower off of my hibiscus bush. I set these flowers and flowering pots on tables at different heights around the garage in an attempt to have the hummingbird follow a trail of red flowers to the open garage door. It worked! I was a bit concerned when she momentarily flew back into the garage to hoover around the hibiscus. Fortunately, she only stayed a moment before flying to freedom. Thank you so much for educating us on the the hummingbirds trap patterns and eating habits- had you not mentioned that they are attracted to red and yellow flowers I would have not had the idea to set up the flowers! Hooray! She is free again!
Worked for me too. Just put some flowers in the rake tines. Watched the hummingbird’s flight pattern and then held the rake nearby. Once it started to suck from a flower, I began to lower the rake until it saw its exit and took off out the door.
Within minutes of reading this post and following the suggestion the hummingbird was free to fly into the beautiful blue sky. Thanks!
After numerous failed attempts with the rake alone and an increasingly stressed out hummer, I ended up making the quick standard hummer solution (2 cups room temp h20, 1/2 cup sugar, stirred well to dissolve) and pouring it over the rake end. It took about four tries for him/her to catch on, but it finally worked. And the little one got a bit of replenishment to boot!
I watched this little female hummer in our garage for about an hour befor finding your site. Took just about two minutes before she lighted on the end of the rake and I walked her out. Thank you so much!
Worked for me!! I attached red flowers to my rake…thanks!!!
Worked like a charm!!! It’s mate had been waiting outside for a whole day…
Thank you very much
So glad I read this! Worked perfectly thank you!!
Just tried using a rake for removing a hummingbird trapped in the garage. Worked like a charm in just a few minutes!!! Thank you.