Superior resident lends helping hand to hummingbird

Back in early May, Superior resident Kathryn Verley did something unusual that not many people can say they’d done.

She saved and revived a tiny hummingbird that flew into her garage and got trapped. It’s quite rare to witness these little flighters up close and personal, and this just so happened to be the second time Verley has come to the rescue.

After returning home from a day of grocery shopping in Missoula, Verley found the little guy lying on a rug in her garage. She said, “He was almost done in and could barely chirp. He must have flown in when we had the big door open earlier that day.”

She moved quickly and scooped him up not only because the hummingbird needed special attention, but because her cat was nearby and seemed rather interested.

Verley shared, “I gathered him up and rushed into the kitchen, stirred up some heavy sugar water, and dipped a Q-tip in the sugar water. Gently I pried open his mouth and dribbled some on his tongue. He went to licking the Q-tip and swallowing.”

Right away the mixture started to reenergize him.

“He drank his fill and we placed him in a shoe box until we heard him fluttering around inside. We took him outside and sat him on a big bull pine limb, he sat a few minutes, then whoosh he was gone. Flew high up in another big tree and then he was gone out of sight,” Verley said.

A few days later she recalls seeing the familiar hummingbird zipping back and forth past her window, perhaps he had returned to thank her.

A birding group, 'World of Hummingbirds' explains that if you find a hummingbird trapped inside a house, garage, or building, the hummingbird will probably be at a window attempting to push itself though the glass by flying at it as fast as possible.

If the structure has no windows, they may be flying around the roof, frantically looking for an exit. Either way, they will do this until they get tired and need to rest.

If at all possible, close all the windows and doors and turn off all the lights to make the room dark. Open the largest door in the room so that the light is only coming from one location. You can also put a hummingbird feeder in the doorway as an attractant to lure the hummingbird in the right direction.

Only as an absolute last resort, pick up the hummingbird. When handling a hummingbird in distress, use slow and careful movements and avoid making loud sounds.

Very carefully cup the hummingbird in your hand. Do not throw a towel, pillowcase, or cloth on top of the hummingbird to capture it. The fabric may snag one of their tiny claws and cause injury. Also, the cloth will probably weigh more than the hummingbird and may cause injury if it lands on top of them the wrong way.

Carefully carry the hummingbird outside near a feeder and open your hand. If the hummingbird has not been injured, they will fly off. But like in Verley’s case, the little flier might need more assistance. With hummingbirds there is less than four hours to start care and only about 24 hours to get help before it may be too late.

And in the future look for ways to avoid the same situation and help keep the hummingbirds around your home safe. Make sure all open doors and windows have screens without holes. Try not to leave garage doors open and unattended for long periods of time. In Western Montana during our fleeting summers, residents typically have the opportunity to see three species of hummingbird: rufous, calliope, and black-chinned.

Hummingbirds are some of the smallest birds in the world, but fluttering those tiny wings can wear them out. Flapping away at up to 90 beats per second burns up calories fast; to sustain their energy, hummingbirds need to eat all throughout the day.

To quench their speedy metabolisms, these active birds ingest half their body weight in nectar and bugs, seeking nourishment every 10-15 minutes and visiting somewhere between 1,000-2,000 flowers per day.

Homeowners can help these fast foragers looking for nutrition by offering them their favorite post-workout meal, nectar. Everyone’s grandmother seems to have the secret recipe for the perfect hummingbird food.

According to the National Audubon Society simply use refined white sugar and water, there’s no need for red dye. They also recommend attracting hummingbirds naturally by planting nectar-bearing native plants in your yard or community.

As for Verley she hopes to enjoy these fascinating hummingbirds at her feeders the rest of the summer and not have anymore garage entrapment incidents.

About four years ago she revived a hummingbird in the exact same way with her friend Cathy Moss Carlson. But this time around Verley expressed, “God is good, he saved one of his creatures to live another day.”