Holes in sparrow eggs

Sam Harris · Sat Apr 06, 2013 10:34 am

I have a sparrow nest in one of the martin houses that has 6 eggs. Has anyone ever tried drilling a very small hole in the end of the eggs? Or shake them up to damage the yoke? I dont want to remove the nest due to the sparrows seeking revenge. I curently have six pair of martins, but they are not nesting yet.

Emil Pampell-Tx · Sat Apr 06, 2013 11:02 am

I am thinking that about 45 sec in a microwave may make them infertile which may be easier.

DebA · Sat Apr 06, 2013 1:17 pm

Would they explode? Oh well get out the 409.

Emil Pampell-Tx · Sat Apr 06, 2013 1:18 pm

Deb, need to experiment, maybe 20 seconds or less

lynnh · Sat Apr 06, 2013 1:47 pm

Sam,Why not just trap or shoot the birds? Just curious

Bronek · Sat Apr 06, 2013 2:02 pm

Put sewing needle thru them and wiggle it..

Louise Chambers · Sat Apr 06, 2013 4:40 pm

Shaking the eggs to addle them is tricky - a small hole from needle might work better. Some of us wait for eggs, then trap the adults, so they won't get suspicious of trap and move to a new compartment. Removing eggs/young and NOT trapping adults is dangerous for martin eggs & young.

Bulldog1 · Sat Apr 06, 2013 5:20 pm

I had a persistent pair of HOSP last year that I could not get. After getting advice from the forum I let them lay eggs and then was able to trap both of them.

KathyF · Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:11 pm

I tried addling eggs once. Came back a couple of weeks later, and they had hatched into healthy baby HOSP.

I'd use a sewing needle. Then put the eggs in a universal trap, carefully made up to look like the original nest with the eggs in the back of the trap.

I've also used a sticky mouse trap with the eggs stuck on top of it and the nest material pushed back to expose the sticky stuff. Worked like a charm - caught the male HOSP when he went in to rescue his eggs.

Leandortree · Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:38 pm

I would never allow a English House Sparrow Pair to build a nest in my costly Martin Housing!
I can't stand the sound they make, or anything else about them, get rid of them! By playing with their eggs you are only extending their stay; and spoiling your experience with your Martin colony! Not to mention the hazard you place your martins in having them around !Having English House Sparrows in your Martin colony housing, is like having RATS in your kitchen, get rid of them !!! lol

~Ray~Gingerich · Sat Apr 06, 2013 7:47 pm

I have never allowed even one egg or a completed nest in any of my housing. Only one time did a nest even near completion and that was when I went to Martin Fest 2 years ago, upon my return the sparrow was dead within an hour.

KathyF · Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:15 pm

Leandor - I've never had a HOSP live past the exploring stage here at my site either. Even the one that caused my change in attitude towards HOSP was only here for 1/2 hour before I finally took him out.

Unfortunately however, I've had to work with multiple friends / neighbors & mentees that have had HOSP in various stages of nesting, so I've learned a lot about how to deal with them to safely remove them from an environment where purple martins, tree swallows and blue birds are already nesting.

The HOSP are not just a problem for martins either....they are a huge problem for tree swallows, blue birds, etc. too. Just had a friend report on Facebook that she went to do a nest check on a nestbox where a pair of Tree swallows had moved in. When she approached the box, she noticed that a HOSP was on top of it. Inside was her decapitated male tree swallow - with some pieces of straw already on top of his body.

These aren't just, "cute little birds".

Sam Harris · Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:30 pm

Tomorrow I am going to set a glue trap in the compartment with the eggs and get rid of those little rat birds.

Carlton · Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:02 pm

I would suggest you use a short piece of tape and close off part of the entrance before you use a glue trap. One never knows when a martin might zip in and get caught. Good luck! I use glue trapping in my martin gourds but I always make the entrance smaller to prevent accidents.

pmcharter1 · Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:35 am

a pair of rubber gloves and a 5 gallon bucket works the best!!!,i skip the microwave and use charcoal lighting fluid once the nest and eggs are extracted,heats up quite nicley! i donot like glue traps, im with carlton. one miscue, and a martin gets in, there dead, you must make that hole small, so only that sparrow can get in, to me, not worth the risk.( just saying)
PM

KathyF · Sun Apr 07, 2013 7:27 am

Sam - the others are right - there are risks associated with using a glue trap - and glue trapping is only a last resort for me, for HOSP that have become wary of a trap. I think you're one of the more experienced landlords who has been on this forum long enough to know these tips, but I'll repeat them here for others.

When using glue traps, you should shim down the entrance to the nest cavity to make it a 1.5" hole - this will prevent a martin from entering. I use a lid to a sour cream container or butter container, where I've already cut the right size hole. Then duct tape up the lid over the entrance. Also, never, ever take your eye off the nest cavity that you've glue trapped. Since the HOSP have eggs, it won't take them long to try to get back in.

I once shimmed down an entrance and glue-trapped a cavity with 5 HOSP eggs. I literally backed away from the house so that I could keep an eye on it and sat on a bucket by a tree that was only 50' away. It took 25 minutes, of holding my breath and watching the male HOSP peeking in the cavity. When he did and I could see he was stuck, I was on him in a flash.

This is a messy and dangerous method. I much prefer the Universal trap.

When using either method, you have to tear out the HOSP nest, but keep the actual nest cup with the eggs intact. If using the glue trap, you'll have to expose the sticky stuff around the eggs, so he can get stuck. If using the trap, only put in the nest cup with the eggs into the back of the trap. Then put nest material around the front of the trap entrance to try to make it look like the original nest entrance. HOSP aren't dumb!

KathyF · Sun Apr 07, 2013 7:31 am

This is my absolute most favorite trap for cavity trapping in a martin house.

http://shop.purplemartin.org/Universal_ ... tails.aspx

My second favorite is the Van Ert trap for trapping in bluebird nest boxes.

Sam Harris · Sun Apr 07, 2013 9:12 am

Well I didnt have time to lower the house and put in a trap so I just got out the Daisy and took care of the male. Now I will try to get his mate.

lynnh · Sun Apr 07, 2013 9:29 am

Awesome, thats what I'm talking about!

Robbo · Sun Apr 07, 2013 10:37 am

I usually have a a terrible time with HOSP's also. I tear out the nests, but if I find an egg I know the trap will catch them. I put the egg in the trap with some of the nesting and sometimes catch both M/F. I will start serious trapping this or next week as they are all over!