Downy Woodpecker Trapped In Garage

[Brenton Reyner]

Hello,

I currently have a Downy Woodpecker trapped in my garage. The door is open but it doesn't want to fly down and out. It's holding its bill open and may be sick but is able to fly. I but a log on the floor with some suet on it and was wondering what else I can do. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to let me know.

Cheers,

Brenton Reyner

Montgomery County

Sent from my iPhone

[Samuel Miller]

Brenton,
If the bird is holding its bill open, it is most likely stressed out, not sick. From my previous experiences, these three things have worked...

1. Turn off the light and block off all of the windows, leaving only the garage door open. Hopefully the bird will fly toward the light.

2. Leave the bird alone for a while. Usually, the problem can resolve itself this way. It allows for the bird to calm down if stressed, and then to make the decision to fly out by itself.

3. If all else fails, (and I don't necessarily like this method), stay in the garage and follow the bird to keep it flying, (It will usually want to get away from you). Like I said, I don't like this one because it increase the stress on the bird. Eventually the bird should probably get tired and fall down to a lower perch or the ground. At this point, you should be able to pick up the bird without problems and bring it outside.

I hope this helps!
- Sam

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[Brenton Reyner]

Hi all,

After a little coaxing, the bird was able to fly out on its own earlier this evening. Thank you to all those who replied and gave some advice.

Cheers,

Brenton Reyner

Montgomery County

On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 6:13 PM, Anna Urciolo <urci...@sidwell.edu> wrote:

Brenton,

This might be moot now but turn off all of the lights in the garage so that the open door is the main light. The bird will fly toward it.

Good luck.

Anna

________________________________________
From: mdbi...@googlegroups.com [mdbi...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Brenton Reyner [brent...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2015 5:09 PM
To: mdbi...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [MDBirding] Downy Woodpecker Trapped In Garage