Birds in my Garage!

I have a habit of leaving my garage door open, I work in my garage a lot. For some reason many birds will fly in and get trapped. They all seem to think they can exit by flying at the cieling. In the two years I have lived at this house I have rescued 2 Hummingbirds, 2 Mourning Dove, 2 Robin, 2 Bluebirds and 1 Titmouse. The only species that has no problem coming and going is the Carolina Wren. In fact the Wrens love it in there, always investigating and looking for potential nesting sites.

I am trying to figure out why the birds, other than the Wrens, get stuck? My garage is vey clean and organized. The walls are painted a grey/blue color, more on the grey side, with a white ceiling. I have not had any deaths in my garage. However, getting trapped for 15 minutes can not be good for the Hummingbirds. I should also add that I catch/release them very quicky with my butterfly net. So stress is minamal. I have wondered if my red tool box is attracting the Hummingbirds?

Hello and welcome! Maybe you’re right about the hummingbirds being attracted by your red tool box - perhaps you could cover it with a towel and see if that helps keep them on the straight and narrow. As for all the other species that try to make themselves at home in your garage, who knows what really goes on in their little heads?! Maybe they are looking for nesting spots, it could be something else altogether. If you browse through this forum you’ll find plenty of anecdotes that can only be categorised as “Sometimes Birds Just Do Weird Stuff”!

You can also put up some fine mesh or a hanging drawn (clear) curtain of some sort.

Very common for Birds to fly into open garage doors and become trapped as when they normally attempt to escape, they fly upwards. Closing your garage door will help greatly in halting the problem. OR, add a large sky light (window) to your garage roof. Leaving it open for a couple of hours after you close your garage door will greatly eliminate your problem.

They might be trying to escape predators.