Hummie’s Captivity and Rescue

Second time in my life I’ve held a hummingbird in my hand (first time was when one flew into a window and stunned itself).

Yesterday evening Doug was out in the garage and realized this little guy or girl was flying around inside and couldn’t figure out how to get outside again.

Try as we might—opening doors, opening windows, tossing paper towel rolls in the air to try shooing it towards an opening—Hummie, as Doug named him or her, just wouldn’t cooperate. It did chirp occasionally though.

I brought a bowl of sugar water in a red bowl and we set in on a stool, under a red light hoping it would get some nourishment at least. I didn’t figure a hummingbird could go too long without food.

The next day after milking, I went in the garage to see if Hummie was still there. I didn’t see it at first.

I was talking to it like I did the night before, and at first I heard a noise but decided it was a cricket or something outside. Then I heard another sound…like the one from the night before! I started looking in the rafters closer to the overhead garage door. My gaze shifted to the floor, and I noticed a small dark object at the edge of the door on the floor.

Hummie!

I grabbed the bowl of sugar water and walked slowly towards it. I set the bowl on the floor but it was way too tall for the bird to reach if it wanted. And I figured spilling it on the floor would be a good way to attract ants. 

So I thought I’d try to pick up the bird. I slowly lowered my hand over it and it didn’t attempt to move. So I closed my grasp gently around it and picked it up. I was about to offer it a drink when I thought, “Hmmm, maybe we should do this outside in case it gets ambitious and wants to fly again!”

So I walked out the big door opening and as soon as I stepped into the sunlight with the bowl in one hand and the bird in the other, ANOTHER hummingbird swooped down and paused for a tiny fraction of a second, then flew away. I suppose it was a parent or a mate, having heard Hummie’s chirps of distress while trapped inside. 

I tipped the bowl and dipped the bird’s beak in the sugar water and immediately Hummie’s needle-like tongue started pulsing in and out as it drank. 

I walked to the ranger across the drive and set the bowl on the tailgate. I tried to perch the bird on the edge of the bowl so it could drink again. Its little claws were kind of curled up, but then suddenly its wings started vibrating, and in the blink of an eye, Hummie was gone!

I didn’t notice them the rest of the day either. Maybe the two of them were late for their migration journey (wouldn’t it be about time they fly south? The barn swallows are already gone I think). 

If Hummie ever comes back I don’t think I could pick him/her out of a lineup, so I’ll probably never know if he/she survived. I’d like to count it as a success though 😉.