weird indoor Hummingbird experience (1 Viewer)

Hello BirdForum Folks,

A few years ago I had an unusual experience with Rufous Hummingbirds and am wondering if anyone has any comments or input, etc..

I'd been airing out the house one summer morning before leaving. I heard a noise in the kitchen and thought the dog was getting into something but he was sitting at my feet. When I checked the kitchen, I discovered a hummingbird perched on the frame of the skylight.

I canceled my appointment and quickly called our local bird wildlife group and got on the net to find out what to do. I knew this little guy didn't have a lot of time since they need to feed quite regularly. The best advice I found was to turn off any appliances, (quiet the house), get the pets and people out of the house and give the Hummer a bit of time to calm down before trying to get it out. I also got a feeder up by the skylight hoping it might use it, if things became desperate.

I waited about 8-10 minutes and heard it flying again so I peeked in the kitchen and was astounded to see there were now 2 hummingbirds hanging out in the skylight! Not the progress I was hoping for. While I'd been waiting a second one came in and I can't imagine why since they don't pair off for breeding. It seemed the 2nd one heard the 1st's distress calls, maybe?

It took some time but I was able to get each Hummingbird to perch on a broom I held up and they let me walk them outdoors. The first one was noticeably worn out and let me take her out fairly easily. The second one had more energy and took longer but it also perched on the broom and let me walk it to the back door.

Moral of this story.... replace damaged window and door screens in a timely manner. ;-)

Also, if windows are open, because of strong indoor lighting from skylights, keep very bright, colorful art projects where the Hummingbirds don't see them and can come in to investigate. This is just a theory of course but at the time I was finishing a very colorful quilt with intense, bright red checks running through it. The sun was hitting it that morning and I think the color may have attracted them.

Just thought I'd share and see if anyone else has had Hummers come inside. I've had 2 other Hummingbirds inside other homes, (not at the same time and both easily rescued), so this must not be that unusual.

Thanks to anyone who read this long winded post.

julieah

Many years ago I spent 3 months at a site in northern Ecuador thar was very rich in hummers. One morning, while enjoying a rare lie-in, I heard the familiar thrum of Hummingbird wings. I looked up and there was a White-whiskered Hermit hovering at the end of my bunk. It then made its way round the dorm, checking out the handful of folk still slumbering before heading back out of the open gable end of the building. Surreal.

James

WOW! Very cool thing to see. After that, I'd never get back to sleep.

Some hummers are far less timid than others I hear. The Anna's Hummingbirds around here are very shy and take awhile to grow accustomed to me.

Thank You for sharing,

julieah

We found Hermits to be particularly curious out in the forest, we were often checked out. A colleague of mine who favoured a black and red hooped jumper also often had various species hum in briefly, on the offchance he was a big flower!

James

Glad you got them out safely julieah.

My feeder is hanging from the balcony (5th floor apt) about 18 inches outside our normally open sliding door into our living room. Fortunately, the hummers almost never enter despite the presence of fresh flowers just inside about 5 feet away.

Once when I had removed the feeder and cleaned/refilled it, I was carrying it back upside-down when one impatient Indigo-capped Hummer entered 10 feet into the room and perched on the top of the feeder (actually the inverted bottom). He sat there while I walked to the balcony and I had to shoo him off in order to re-hang it outside.

I had an interesting indoor hummingbird experience a couple of years ago.

My cat has a special yowl reserved for "there's a bird in the house". I've heard it a few times when I've had a door open on nice days. My (completely indoor) cat is clueless when it comes to birds and hides behind me rather than trying to catch them.

I went into the living room and found the female Anna's Hummingbird that was regular at my hummingbird feeder flying circuits of the ceiling. I removed the cat from the scene, opened all the doors and windows and waited for her to leave. She just kept flying.

Before long she began to flag and I was starting to get frantic. She obviously couldn't see the way out. My house had a fairly high ceiling, and she was staying right up against it, refusing to come down the couple of feet required to leave through the doors or windows.

I went outside, grabbed the hummingbird feeder, and balanced it on top of one of the open doors. She saw it right away and landed on it, taking a long drink and a rest. Phew, I thought, now she'll see the open door and leave. But no, she carried on flying in circles an inch below the ceiling.

This carried on for a while, brief fuel stops on the balanced feeder, followed by more laps. I couldn't understand why she didn't just drop a few inches from the feeder and make a break for freedom.

Eventually I took the feeder down and stood with my arm outstretched, holding the feeder as still as I could at head height, right next to an open door. She saw the feeder again and landed on it. Finally, much to my relief, she could see the light and dashed out, back into the wild.

I quickly restored the feeder to its rightful place outside and within a few seconds she was back on it, taking a huge drink followed by a long rest, staying perched on the feeder for a full 30 minutes. Thankfully, living in a particularly urban part of central Tucson back then, I didn't have any other hummers around to harass her, and she was able to make a full recovery. I kept a good eye on her for the next few days but she didn't appear any the worse for wear.

Another Anna's Hummingbird came into my garage a few times at my previous house, seemingly curious to see what I was doing in there, but that door went to ceiling level, so they had no problem finding the way out. I've heard of raptors getting stuck in warehouses and staying up high, perching on roof beams, with workers struggling to persuade the birds to fly down to leave.

Could it be that birds are not good at looking down? Or perhaps more likely, not capable of visualizing an escape route below them, when 'the sky' is so obviously upwards? I'd be interested to know if anyone has any other theories.

Hi Richard,

That is indeed an interesting hummingbird experience!

From what I've read hummingbirds' instincts when in trouble are to fly upwards only. I'm sure the skylights in my house confused them but your story supports that theory.

I'm no expert - just an enthusiast so I'm sure others here can offer further insight.

I think it's amazing she used the feeder while trapped. Since she was a "resident" at your place, being familiar with you may have helped her relax some. The Rufous in my house showed no interest in the feeder.

BTW ~ I know the meow you describe. Once you've heard it there's no mistaking it down the road. ;-)

I love these stories!

julieah

Hello Rob & James,

Rob,

Incredible feeder response! Do you know what kind of Hummer came inside? Just curious if different species are more shy than others.

James,

A friend of mine got dive bombed recently when visiting and had a bright red coat on. I think they were just checking her out due to her coat. They only dive bomb me when I'm too close to a feeder. For a tiny bird they sure can startle me with how fast and close they come.

Happy Bird Watching!

julieah

Thanks julieah. Your mention of the skylights made me remember an additional detail of the story. My trapped hummingbird was at first buzzing around the florescent strip light in the kitchen (it was an open plan kitchen/dining/living room) until I switched it off.

It makes sense that all these incidents point to the notion that hummingbirds escape upwards.

Fascinating! Thanks again.

One more anecdote relating to bright colors. I bought some native trees to plant at my new home here in Rio Rico (an hour south of Tucson) and I left the bright red 'sold' tags on for a few days until I got around to planting the trees. On numerous occasions I saw hummingbirds approach the tags to see if they were flowers.

I've only got one male Anna's around my feeders at the moment, but I'm looking forward to March/April when the Anna's will leave my elevation of 3,500 feet, to be replaced by abundant summering Broad-billed (stunning!) and Black-chinned Hummingbirds and migrant Rufous, as well as, I hope, a surprise or two...

I have really enjoyed this thread. What amazing stories you all shared It's good to hear the hummers were able to get back out into the wild after their adventures!

The Indigo-capped Hummingbirds (endemic here in Colombia) are by far the most aggressive and confident and is the one that came inside. I can stand right next to the feeder and it's sometimes possible to gently touch them with a finger-tip without them moving.

Of the 3 other species we get on the feeder, it seems to me they vary a lot in their aggression/territoriality and their confidence around me. I'm glad they all know their inside from outside though.

I've got a lot to learn about Hummingbirds. Anyone got any good book recommendations on their behavior?

Richard Fray said:

Could it be that birds are not good at looking down? Or perhaps more likely, not capable of visualizing an escape route below them, when 'the sky' is so obviously upwards? I'd be interested to know if anyone has any other theories.

Click to expand...

I've read in BW's Digest last year an article about an American Robin trapped in a school gym. The poor thing could not find its way out even though they opended up doors and windows wide. The article went on to explain the reason for this: Cavity nesting birds can find their way in and out of spaces pretty well, but non-cavity dwelling birds become very confused when in these 'closed' spaces. They just don't have the developed spatial awareness that cavity dwelling birds have (in these cases). I hope I explained this correctly.

Hi Richard and All,

I'm envious about the broad-bills you get to see! Most of you in warmer areas seem to have many hummingbird species living together which must be great bird watching. I've checked out some of the photos and videos ~ very impressive. The pictures of the broad-bills are gorgeous. I know they never get as far north as western Oregon so in this case I guess I have to travel to see them.

Interesting that the Anna's you get migrate because I've read that in some places they will be permanent residents and I'd think Arizona would be a great place year round. Do you have year round Hummers? The Anna's seem to migrate to different elevations so where you're located they winter at 3,500 ft. and in Oregon they seem to winter at low elevations. We have obvious climate differences that explains it I guess.

This is the first year I've had Anna's at my place at all, much less during breeding season. For almost 2 decades I've only had Rufous Hummers during breeding season and some years they only seem to migrate through. All last summer I had one Rufous male then in mid-august several Anna's males showed up along with lots of Rufous migrating through so for about a week or two the population was fairly high here.

Since this is my first year with Anna's I'm wondering what will happen when the Rufous get here. With the Anna's breeding season overlapping with when the Rufous arrive I'm hoping to have both here. For that one+ week they seemed to share the feeders without much aggression so I'm sure they'll figure it out. I'm adding a couple more feeders in hopes of increasing the population around here. Somewhere online I read a woman commenting that one persons Hummingbirds sounded so civil but hers acted like the people on Jerry springer. Mine are of the later variety.

Rob,
After re-reading your thread I realized you mentioned the Hummer was an Indigo-Capped. They look beautiful! That must be amazing to have the Indigo-Capped around and get to experience them close up! I'll keep looking at the photos and videos to see what I'm missing. I'm surprised the fresh flowers don't tempt them although it sounds like they're very happy with their feeder!

Annabeth,
I think I understand what you mean. It's sort of like "scent Hounds" and "sight Hounds" - they're both hounds but behave very differently when it comes to hunting instincts.

Thank you all for sharing your stories as well as reading this long off topic post! I probably should've started a new thread but I got carried away. ;-)

julieah

Hi julieah,

Anna's Hummingbirds down here have a very complicated distribution. In some places, such as Tucson, they are 'year round' although that doesn't necessarily mean they're the same birds, with some moving off and others moving in. Generally speaking they're the commonest hummingbird here and they can be found at any time of year somewhere. I was watching the males displaying in Tucson yesterday.

Anna's tend to be quite aggressive, but Rufous even more so. It will be interesting to see how your potential hummingbird wars turn out! I've noticed that, the more hummingbirds around a feeder, the more they are forced to get along. When one hummingbird decides to 'own' a feeder it can turn into a big fight.

There are hummingbirds just about everywhere in SE Arizona from March/April until October/November, with many on migration in April/May and July-September and a healthy breeding population. Fewer hang around in winter. Costa's are year round in Sonoran desert habitat (we watched one yesterday at Tucson Audubon's Mason Center in NW Tucson) and a few Broad-billed winter in Tucson, with a few Magnificent and Blue-throated wintering at higher elevation at places like Madera Canyon.

Several species are higher elevation specialists, such as Magnificent, Blue-throated and Broad-tailed, while others have favored sites, such as Violet-crowned in Patagonia and Lucifer at Ash Canyon B&B.

They are my very favorite birds and it's a pleasure to live in a place where there are so many species to be seen. Miller Canyon holds the record for the most species seen at one site in the US in one day - 14!

Richard,

You live in a Hummingbird paradise. Fourteen species in one location on a single day is amazing!

I checked out some of your website. What a great resource for us and a wonderful business for you! I noticed at least one photo of a Hummingbird feeder that had "heavy" traffic. I didn't try to count but there had to be well over a dozen Hummers at or near the feeder. Is that a common sight for you, that many Hummers at one feeder?

I've been experiencing the feeder bullies this season and so far I've had 3 different male Anna's take ownership of the feeder outside my front window for about a month each. Even though the feeder isn't being dominated by a single bird at the moment, I still see a fair amount of aggression around it. I just added a second feeder near the first about a meter lower and I've had a bird drinking at each feeder seemingly unaware of the other. Only time will tell if this helps or if a new feeder bully will try to guard them both.

I'm fascinated by these little dynamos and would have to say they're my favorites these days too. I'm experimenting with multiple styles of feeders and if I notice anything of interest, I'll start a new thread. Also, when the Rufous begin arriving I'll start a thread on that too if it's interesting.

Thanks again to All for sharing & Happy Bird Watching,

julieah

BTW... I think the Anna's female is sitting on eggs now since I only see her at the feeder and not perching near the feeder which she was doing a couple days ago. Just a guess since I'm a complete novice at this.