Garage Hummingbirds

[glentre]

Saw a special last night on hummingbirds which reminded me that spring is near and these little wonders of nature will be back from migration soon. Until I understood why, we would get them trapped in our garage when the door was open. They would come in and fly up to the ceiling and not know they needed to fly downward first in order to leave.

Seems they come in the garage after seeing the red handle hanging on the bottom of the manual door opening rope, investigating the red handle thinking it might be a flower.

Solution, we gave the handle a shot of white spray a few years ago and have not had the little guys trapped in the garage since. (black might be better) So, on the chance you are lucky enough to have these fantastic birds in your area, give the handle a shot next time you are painting anything other than red.

Glen

 

[Jimmy_B]

Thanks for the tip. My wife feeds a lot of birds and we regularly get hummingbirds in the garage. I'm gonna try this!

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[mjeff87]

I found this out the hard way last summer. I spent a good hour or so trying to gently coax the little dude out with a broom/garden rake/whatever but he just couldn't figure it out. Kept banging off the ceiling and the light fixtures...I could tell he was getting tired and his squaking let me know he wasn't very happy. I was just about to give up when suddenly he hopped down off the light he was perched on, onto the top of the rake I was using. I very gently lowered the rake down and as soon as he saw his escape route he was gone like a shot. My wife was freaking out the whole time, which I'm sure wasn't helping the situation.

Afterwards, I googled it and found out what you said about the release rope Glen It makes sense...they see it as a food source. I replaced it with a piece of white rope, hopefully that works.

 

[Tejay]

I had one trapped last year. Every time I tried to shoo it out it buzzed around near the ceiling to a point of exhaustion. I ended up hanging a feeder off the bottom of the door. It wasn't long before it flew to the feeder and then departed. Poor little bird was so stressed !!

 

[Z2V]

The feeder was a great idea.

 

[Kevin54]

I'll have to try the painted handle trick as we get hummers in the garage every year.

What I use to get them out of the garage is the screen out of the window. It has a wide area and is long enough to reach the ceiling. I believe the hummer can see through it and is not as frightened. Most of the time I can get them to attach to the screen the first time so I can turn them loose. I can't do that in my new addition though because of the taller ceilings, so I hope the painted handle trick works.

Thanks for posting that.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Best shot at getting birds out of your garage is to black out the windows, leave the lights off and the roll up door open.

Take the red handle off the door release rope, too. Bad guys just use it as an easy entrance device...

Tommy

 

[PassnThru]

I had one trapped last year. Every time I tried to shoo it out it buzzed around near the ceiling to a point of exhaustion. I ended up hanging a feeder off the bottom of the door. It wasn't long before it flew to the feeder and then departed. Poor little bird was so stressed !!

I've done the same. I've also hung anything I could find that was red (once the cap from some STP Carb Cleaner) below the door. After awhile they'll notice and investigate which puts them under the door and in the opening. They usually get out after that.

 

[oldwino]

Great ideas guys. Had two meet their maker last season after the doors were closed for a few days. Really felt bad about that

 

[Tractorsellr]

I have them fly in the shop everyday all day when they are here. Shop has 10 skylights and they try to get out thru the skylights. We keep a fine mesh butterfly net on a 12 foot pole to catch them and take outside. We have dozens of hummingbirds that visit the feeders daily that hang outside the office door, I go thru 5 gallons of sugar water every other day during the migration season.

 

[atch]

I also have several hummingbird feeders (12-15 most years) and most are pretty close to the shop. They come into the shop fairly regularly when the big door is open. I do the same thing that Tejay does; hang a feeder in the door. Works every time.

 

[CJM8515]

I have a butterfly net and just capture them and bring them outside usually. Always get a few every spring/summer

 

[Allgonquin]

Thanks for the advice on painting the rope handle. I will try it. Every year I get a few in my garage. One time one was so exhausted he let me pick him up and carry him outside to a tree!

 

[GTFiero]

Had the exact same problem with the opener manual handle. Just ended wrapping the handle with black electrical tape. No more hummingbirds.

 

[Kent_B]

Thanks for the tip. I'd much rather have 'em hanging around my front porch than in my garage.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

We were sitting outside this morning drinking coffee and thought we saw one flying around already...have not had any in my shop yet, bur my red handle is on the side not in the middle like on most. Great tip though w/the paint!

And based on this I see we have been correct!
http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

 

[James E]

I'll have to try the painted handle trick as we get hummers in the garage every year.

Hummers in the garage are great. And in the house, and in the yard and in the shed and... .

Oh, you meant hummingbirds?

Never mind.

 

[PelicanPines]

My wife feeds the hummers... they will arrive in a few weeks... fly into my garage and yell at me for not having the feeders out yet.

 

[glentre]

Todd, cajunfirehawk,

Thanks for the info. That site is very informative.

Glen

 

[Dr Stan]

Excellent idea.

 

[elba]

Want to see something interesting ? Go to YOU TUBE and put in " Praying Mantis Catches Humming Bird " There are several videos .

 

[Sighss]

Great idea.

 

[thenorm]

we had Anna's hummingbirds stay over winter. had to keep thawing the feeders (kept two on rotation into the house) even had to put a trouble light on it to stay warm on the coldest days.

never had them in the garage though.

also, i just noticed the Rufous Hummingbirds have just returned

 

[Z2V]

^^great pics. Did you take them?

 

[cajunfirehawk]

we had Anna's hummingbirds stay over winter. had to keep thawing the feeders (kept two on rotation into the house) even had to put a trouble light on it to stay warm on the coldest days.

never had them in the garage though.

also, i just noticed the Rufous Hummingbirds have just returned

OP, where are you from and has the other poster asked, if you took those pics what camera did you uses, stunning photos

 

[atch]

and what's your location???

 

[Sawdustmaker]

Here in So. Cal we have Anna's and Allen's year round. Just about time for the Rofous and Black Chin to arrive. Finally got around to painting the do-hickey on the garage door opener white. My wife keeps a feeder by the front porch, so they usually stay out of the garage. Did have a couple wander in last year, got them with a fishing net and released unharmed. They are sure fun to watch.

 

[redmondjp]

Here in the temperate region in the Seattle area, we have the Anna's hummingbirds year-round. I installed a feeder last fall. To keep it from freezing on cold winter nights, I have a 65W reflector-base incandescent bulb shining on the glass reservoir. This worked to keep the nectar from freezing down to a bit below 20 degrees F, so long as I turned it on early enough the night before.

 

[CN Spots]

Well, my whole shop is red and I an't painting it. I've had as many as 4 at once but most fly out when it gets dark. One stayed in there for over 2 weeks thanks to a feeder strung up in the ceiling. Once he learned to live off the feeder I did what Tejay did and moved it to garage door and left. He was gone when I came back.

Funny thing, I noticed what looked like dried syrup droplets all over my project truck afterwards. Turned out that was hummingbird poop. Nice.