Welcome to In The Back Yard - where we have small thoughts about how to live alongside wildlife.
I got a call – it was late and I was already in bed. It was our neighbor. A Hummingbird had been stuck in their garage. At that moment it was lying at the now open garage door. Immobile.
I went over, the little thing was so weak. I thought, oh my God, it’s almost dead. I went to pick it up and it made a last ditch move straight up to the garage eves where it promptly got stuck in a large spider web. It was just dangling there lifeless. It was horrible.
I grabbed a broom stick and tried to break the spiders web. Neighbor grabbed a duster type thing which was large and soft. I put it under the bird and brought him down on it. Literally I thought it was dead but I got my feeder from my backyard and the neighbor got a shallow dish of sugar water.
Through Rob’s Rescues- Rob had interviewed a Hummingbird rehabber some years back – I talked to her.
I put the hummingbird on a soft towel with the feeder into a box and shone a light into the box for 15 minutes. Hummingbirds only feed in the light. I did hear it move around in there which was a positive sign.
After 15 minutes I took the light away and left it to rest in the box over night.
I was very nervous as to what I might find in the morning but just around sunrise I opened the box and the little thing buzzed straight on up and out seeming none the worse for wear. Within seconds it was divebombed by the other current resident Hummingbird and they went their merry way filling their days at the feeder in preparation of migration.
This had a happy ending.
A lot of birds are not as lucky.
Additional Thoughts:
Humming bird feeders go along way to supporting these little endurance athletes on their migration route.
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