Hummingbirds

So, I left my garage door open when I came home from work today. After dinner I went out to the garage to get some drinks out of the garage fridge and I hear this sorta buzzing sound. I think it is a bug. I look up back towards the door the house that I just came out of and there is a hummingbird hovering right there. He looked like he was trying to fly through the back wall of my garage - not crashing into but hovering right next to it and lightly probing it with his beak. He buzzed across the back wall of my garage, over my fridge, and then got to where I have a big storage cabinet. I lost sight of him then and the noise suddenly stopped. I did a little search and found him under the cabinet on the floor. I'm not sure if he is just looking for a place to sleep or if he is going to die under there. I don't want to hurt him by trying to get him out of there - I would have to use a broomstick or something to sweep him out. I am also not going to leave my garage door open all night.

I guess I'll just check on him tomorrow and try to see if he is dead or if he is a hummingbird hibernation-like sleep (apparently they do that - who knew?)

I know what to do if raccoons invade but not hummingbirds!

This happens to me occasionally. They fly in the door, get lost or disoriented and can't figger out how to get out. I'll look down and there's a hummingbird laying down and about dead. I pick them up, go in the house, mix up some sugar and water in a little bowl, take it and the bird outside and put the bird next to the drink. They stick their beak in the mix, slurp up maybe a CC in about 10 seconds, 10 seconds later they're fully recharged and fly off.

Dr. Hess wrote: This happens to me occasionally. They fly in the door, get lost or disoriented and can't figger out how to get out. I'll look down and there's a hummingbird laying down and about dead. I pick them up, go in the house, mix up some sugar and water in a little bowl, take it and the bird outside and put the bird next to the drink. They stick their beak in the mix, slurp up maybe a CC in about 10 seconds, 10 seconds later they're fully recharged and fly off.

They always go for the red handle manual release on my garage door, I can't tell you how many of them I've saved from Humming Bird Heaven

Sugar water sounds more humane than just stepping on him.. I'll give it a try.

Can't you reach your arm under there and get him out?

I was at a Mosport lapping day a couple of weeks ago. Walking by a big steel garbage drum on the way to my car, I could hear banging. Hardly dared to look inside... but look I did. There was a big white seagull at the bottom, banging and fluttering. I had to bend forward right into the can to grab him, then throw him aloft. I had the feeling that people were lookin' at me weird as I walked back to my car.

Worst case scenario, if you must put him down, use these:

< They always go for the red handle manual release on my garage door, I think Federal regulations require that the handle be red. Paint it black or wrap black tape around it & the attraction to hummingbirds will be gone.

They're attracted to red. You'll notice humming bird feeders are red and the juice inside is dyed red. Once out Trumpet Vine comes into bloom the little guys are all over it.

Maybe something red caught his eye and then he just got overwhelmed with the awsomeness of your cars. Lost it.

One of the most amazing creatures on earth.

Save it!

Pickled Hummingbird is the best!

a joke I told in fourth grade..............

Why do hummingbirds hum?

(they don't know the words)

I couldn't find him this morning. He's not where he was last night when I gave up and closed the garage door.

so what happened what happened? sugar water defibrilator? tasty midnight snack? tell us TELL US!!!

914Driver wrote: They're attracted to red....

Use this to your advantage. I once had one in my garage so I opened the back door and hung a red coke can in the doorway so the sun would shine on it. Checking a few hours later it was gone.

If you don't have a back door you could try hanging some bright red things off the garage door. The primary problem (as with most birds / bugs) is that they tend to fly up, getting them low enough to go through the door is the issue.

carguy123 wrote: Pickled Hummingbird tongues are the best!

Fixed

deep fried ain't bad...

But it takes a few thousand to make a meal

that's why you put out multiple feeders..

I read somewhere a long time ago, that they are always X amount of time from starvation. I dont remember the time, but it was something like 12 hrs or less. Really short.

TJ wrote: I couldn't find him this morning. He's not where he was last night when I gave up and closed the garage door.

do you own a cat?

Hope the little dickens figured out how to get out.

Hummingbirds are voracious eaters because they burn a LOT of energy buzzing those tiny wings. It's sort of like having a huge powerful engine in a go cart with a 1 gallon fuel cell, you are gonna fill it a LOT of times in the course of a day. They are also very territorial. There's a hummingbird feeder in my back yard and I can't count the number of times one has tried his or her damndest to take it over for themselves. My daughter and I refer to it as 'Hummingbird Wars'.

I'm sure he's dead, but until I find his body I'll call him MIA. I think he exhausted himself with all that trying to fly through the wall. When he was alive but under my cabinet he didn't seem to act like a normal bird. I really thought he was under there to die like old yeller, except not a dog and not yellow, and not under a porch.

BobOfTheFuture wrote: I read somewhere a long time ago, that they are always X amount of time from starvation. I dont remember the time, but it was something like 12 hrs or less. Really short.

Not only that, but they have very long memories. If you decide to hang a hummingbird feeder, you better keep hanging one, and keep it stocked. Because after a few trips to it during migration season, they will rely on it being there, and if you stop hanging it, next year when they come by they will be missing a vital link in their logistics chain and they could die as a result. Their reserves are that small.

I have a couple of feeders in my back yard. I get some action there but not as much as the past couple of years. For some reason the number of birds is down. A couple of years ago I visited my sister who lives in downstate Illinois. She had 4-5 feeders in trees around her porch. You could sit out there and watch as many as a dozen try to feed. Some would feed and then perch in the tree and chase away any others that tried to feed at "his" feeder! IT was mid Sept. and some had already come south as the weather had cooled up north.

Hummingbirds, the top prize in the hunting tournament that is a cat's life