Birds in my Garage! (1 Viewer)

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?

Thanks for any help,
Derek

Most birds tend to think escape from enclosed spaces is best done by going up high. Wrens are adapted to going into dark places (their scientific family name Troglodytidae means 'cave dweller'), so they know to head for the brightest light even if it is low down, and likely also to remember the route they used to come in.

One option for other birds might be to have an escape hole close to the roof, probably best towards the south end where the sun will shine in most.

A common problem. I also regularly have sparrows and robins that fly into my garage (strangely though rarely into the house). The Robins generally seem to find their way out through the same door that they came in but the sparrows tend to come into the door then flutter about against the window trying to get out. Probably says something about the relative intelligence of the two species! In reality I suspect that the Robin is going in there deliberately as I keep my stocks of bird seed in there along with a large woodpile for the fire (probably plenty of insect/grubs), whereas I think the sparrows simply just fly in through the open door by mistake