Sparrows are unrelenting...

[DornCounty]

Man the Sparrows are a pain in the bottom this year.

I've probably trapped 40+ so far from the community colonies and it's like I've done nothing. I've got a reapeating nest box designed that will hang from a trio house, but have not had the time to build it up and test it yet. I'd probably have 400 if I had repeaters up.

Will be interesting to see where we sit when egg laying starts in 3 or 4 weeks.

[Don Strickland]

It seems that the numbers of Starlings and Sparrows has increased here in the last few days......Trapping a few and shooting a few, but they just keep coming.
Hope the new trap you are designing works well.
Don

[Craig Haddox]

I have trapped 14 sparrows in the past 3 days using a repeating bait trap and my trusty spare-o-door traps.

[JR4-AL]

No kidding! It is awful when a person can not go outside and appreciate the singing of native song birds because of that ear-piercing-redundant shrill coming from all of the house sparrows! I have tore out at least two five-gallon buckets of nests. Do they ever get fed up with their nest being torn out and leave an area?

[jr 2]

i don't give them a chance too start a nest but i realize a lot of people can't keep an eye on their martin houses like me as i am retired and most of the time i am home;;jr2

[DornCounty]

i don't give them a chance too start a nest but i realize a lot of people can't keep an eye on their martin houses like me as i am retired and most of the time i am home;;jr2

tough to keep an eye on 40 houses.. with only an hour a day. no sparrows at home though.

[Charlie Rogers]

I agree with all the above, they just keep coming here and I only have 2 boxes.

[bird fan]

Hello to eveyone having sparrow and starling problems; my theory is that the extreme winter further north has driven those pests southward to more mild weather, I come from Wisconsin and our winter was cold and snowy, making it harder for those birds to survive, so they tend to migrate south where its warmer, as we warm up those pests will migrate back our way and then we'll be having the pressure your all experiencing,
its only a matter of time but you guys can help us out by elminating as many as possible. Good luck!

[John Miller]

Dorn County

Sparrows are a little strange..a flock in the vicinity of a house may not try nest there -- until the martins do. Maybe makes the housing look safe.

do the best you can. Review old threads here and an article in the archives by Steve Kroenke on male house sparrow revenge. The more solid knowledge you have the better as you deal with house sparrows.
John M

[Fredmyyster]

They dont like my housing... for long. Birdie buh byeee

[stan davison]

I trap sparrows all year long. I have noticed that it is very important to trap the young sparrows in your yard, you can tell they are fledges because they have yellow beaks. I don't allow them to nest in my houses but slum houses are everywhere around me. I use baited traps for the young sparrows. They love white bread. Monitor your traps hourly. Native species also love white bread.

[DornCounty]

Dorn County

Sparrows are a little strange..a flock in the vicinity of a house may not try nest there -- until the martins do. Maybe makes the housing look safe.

do the best you can. Review old threads here and an article in the archives by Steve Kroenke on male house sparrow revenge. The more solid knowledge you have the better as you deal with house sparrows.
John M

I probably know sparrows better than martins.

[Dave Duit]

I feel the same DornCounty. I use a repeating trap. I get tired of trying to shoot them; I miss half the time. If anyone can build a sparrow proof entrance and allow the martins in, they will be an instant millionaire.

[KathyF]

Dorn - I read a study on HOSP a while back. It found that HOSP never venture beyond a 3-4 mile radius of their natal site. When I first moved here and put up martin housing & blue bird housing, I ended up having to kill 35 HOSP. The next year, I was down to 5. The years afterwards have varied - with my outreach to the neighbors and educating them on the scourge that are HOSP & starlings. This year, I've caught 6 so far. I have a neighbor with a new horse barn ... that means open grain / feed. I hear them in his barn a lot & just accepted that I'd have a brood or two to deal with this year.

Although, I was able to trap a lot of the new fledges last fall......

[tonyg]

Things have really slowed here at my house, all im catching are the Harris sparrows. The sparrows I see pay no mind to the Blaines trap. I kinda have to agree with Kathy..been here at my residence for 10 yrs now and it seems like they and the starlings are not as thick..thanks to my trusty Remington 20 ga and blaines trap..

[pmcharter1]

sparrow control, full time job, i have two twelve room trios, and there are only two rooms they want, well, thats two to many!, i use a sparrow trap door, , catch them,all that is - is a full time job of catch and release, and another takes over.i truely hate to go down this road, butwhen it comes to sparrows killing off my colony,or taking over rooms - we have war!, my trap works good if you can do it 12 hrs aday, most cant, my advise, is kill the male!i use my winchester 74, 22 rifel, i replace the the 22 cartriges, with the bird shot cartridge, i wait for the male sparrow to leave the house and watch him perch on a tree, and blast him!then clean the nest out, seems the female sparrow is lost when her mate is gone, not sure if they mate for a season or what,but she tends to leave,. if you can get all of your rooms occupied with martins, they will fight off the sparrows.i have heard of peple using glue traps in a sparrow room, dont, i have heard where martins may miss their room and go into the one with the glue trap, if that happens, there dead. as a martin landlord, this is the worst part of being one, i wish most of us had time to trap these birds , but some of us dont,and we are forced to do what we have to to save our colony, and the rooms we have provided.if anyone has a humane way of removing these birds, let me know, im tired of the catch and release trap, only to have them ,or another come back
respectfully, pm

[KathyF]

pmcharter - I'm confused by your post. Do you really mean that you're "releasing" them after you trap them? If so, that's why you have a full time job with them. If you're releasing them, not only are the same ones returning to your colony to wreak havoc on your birds, they're breeding & multiplying somewhere and their offspring are coming there too.

As for the part about having all your rooms occupied and the martins will fight them off; I'm sure that this is what some people that are not monitoring their colonies frequently or doing regular nest checks may think. But I can tell you, my colony is very full every year. And I've seen a HOSP still sneak in and throw eggs out when the martins have left the cavity empty - if only for a few minutes. I have found as many as 9 eggs on the ground in one instance where a HOSP showed up and I didn't see him in time.

Besides HOSP are not just a problem for Martins - they're MORE of a problem for our bluebirds, tree swallows & other birds as they actually kill them and build their nests on top of them. I guess I tend to think about ALL the birds out there and the challenges they face, rather than just my martin colony.
Here's what those "cute little birds" do when they're not invading your martin colony. These were 1-week old baby TRES that a HOSP killed in less than 30 minutes...notice the holes poked in the heads and bellies. It baffles me with this kind of slaughter going on with our native birds -- WHY is this even still a debate???
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc33 ... RES2-2.jpg

[lynnh]

sparrow control, full time job, i have two twelve room trios, and there are only two rooms they want, well, thats two to many!, i use a sparrow trap door, , catch them,all that is - is a full time job of catch and release, and another takes over.i truely hate to go down this road, butwhen it comes to sparrows killing off my colony,or taking over rooms - we have war!, my trap works good if you can do it 12 hrs aday, most cant, my advise, is kill the male!i use my winchester 74, 22 rifel, i replace the the 22 cartriges, with the bird shot cartridge, i wait for the male sparrow to leave the house and watch him perch on a tree, and blast him!then clean the nest out, seems the female sparrow is lost when her mate is gone, not sure if they mate for a season or what,but she tends to leave,. if you can get all of your rooms occupied with martins, they will fight off the sparrows.i have heard of peple using glue traps in a sparrow room, dont, i have heard where martins may miss their room and go into the one with the glue trap, if that happens, there dead. as a martin landlord, this is the worst part of being one, i wish most of us had time to trap these birds , but some of us dont,and we are forced to do what we have to to save our colony, and the rooms we have provided.if anyone has a humane way of removing these birds, let me know, im tired of the catch and release trap, only to have them ,or another come back
respectfully, pm

Confused as well

[Craig Haddox]

Catch and release Not in my back yard. Once a house sparrow or starling is trapped in my yard it's over

[tonyg]

I catch and release all my Bass!!