Just when I thought my HOSP problem was solved

Bulldog1 · Sat Mar 29, 2014 7:46 pm

It isn't. Did my first nest tear out today. Can't catch em, can't shoot em, but I can keep em from breeding. I have 14(I think) martins at present but that doesn't stop the HOSPs from trying to claim a gourd. If my neighbors were not so close I would get out my 12 gauge and solve this problem.

Chuck4 · Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:21 pm

Pellet or bb gun will work too. I popped off a male HOSP that had claimed two of my gourds last week with a Red Ryder BB gun. No more issues. I have a .177 air rifle (pellets)with a scope too, but hsven't had to use it. That's my last resort if all else fails.

MamaBruff · Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:28 pm

GRRR! I feel your pain!

What kind of tunnels do you have on your gourds? I have Troyer horizontals with tunnels, and the tunnel traps work great! I leave the rubber band in place on the wire loop just as it is when I open the pkg. I thk it helps make a smaller hole, so HOSP can't hop thru it. Ha, Just as I was loading my .22, the Troyer trap claimed my target!

I know another landlord who foils the HOSP from reproducing in a sneaky way when unable to catch/shoot the adults... (not me)... this person gently punctures the eggs with a needle or small straightened paper clip, and addles the eggs. The HOSP continue to set the eggs that will never hatch. Keeps them busy I guess.

Bulldog1 · Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:36 pm

8 Super Gourds(no tunnels), 4 natural gourds with S&K clinger tunnels, 6 Troyer Vertical Gourds. Super gourds and naturals with crescent openings and the Troyer gourds have the Conley II entrance. HOSP is claiming one of the natural gourds.

DornCounty · Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:48 pm

1st rule of the HOSP problem - There is not solution. we will always deal with it.

MamaBruff · Sat Mar 29, 2014 9:06 pm

Here's what Bill Hyde just posted on my OFA thread; maybe it will work for you too:

"After I retired my Trio castle after the 2013 season, I got to thinking about how to reuse its Spare-O-Doors. I found it relatively easy to retrofit a Spare-O-Door to a Bo-9 gourd. It was an easy fix! My next project was to modify an s&k ultimate trap so that it would catch only sparrows and not larger songbirds. That was more of a challenge but I made a sparrow-sized entrance from a piece of sintra plastic and fit it to the ultimate trap entrance hole. I think Rube Goldberg would be proud of me! Now I have three working sparrow traps on my gourd rack and I don't have to worry that I will catch a martin in one of them." (Bill Hyde)

You are not beaten, just frustrated. Be cool and think like a predator. Lots of help here kept me from going bald last year! Hang in there dude!

Bulldog1 · Sat Mar 29, 2014 9:10 pm

Oh well, almost bald already.

MamaBruff · Sat Mar 29, 2014 9:14 pm

Chuck4 · Sat Mar 29, 2014 9:55 pm

Bulldog,

I hope you can get it figured out with out having to lose any more hair...

I know I would not be able to wait until eggs are laid due to the extreme aggressive teritoriality of the HOSP. Trapping or shooting are my only options. Trapping doesn't always work for me.They are very observant and learn quickly. Good luck.

Gary W · Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:10 pm

Hi Bulldog,

In the past, I have used mouse glue boards effectively to capture House Sparrows. If you utilize a board in a compartment, it is very, very important to make the entry hole small enough to allow a sparrow to enter, but exclude any Martins!!! You can make a hole smaller using strips of wood or plastic, and attach them with duct tape on each side of an entry hole.

In the urban area that I live, I am not allowed to shoot any air rifle or pellet gun. Oddly enough, I have not had a House Sparrow attempt to nest in any of my compartments for over two years. In my area of Florida, sparrows are far less numerous, than they were 10 years ago. Some reports say that House finches drive House Sparrows out of an area, but I have never seen a finch in my yard.

Gary

Steve Martin · Sun Mar 30, 2014 11:11 am

Gary W wrote:Hi Bulldog, In my area of Florida, sparrows are far less numerous, than they were 10 years ago. Some reports say that House finches drive House Sparrows out of an area, but I have never seen a finch in my yard.

I have both House Sparrows and House Finches in the vicinity of my trailer and it doesn't seam that the finches have driven the sparrows out. I live next door to auto shop with a sort of junkyard behind it and there are plenty of places for the sparrows to breed. From my observations the finches don't seam to compete with the sparrows. Maybe if there were fewer nesting sites they might. The finches have not attempted to nest in my martin house either.

Craig Haddox · Sun Mar 30, 2014 11:40 am

I trap sparrows in my nest box trap and my spare-o-door traps then put them in the repeating ground trap to catch more. I trapped 15 in an 8 day's after a 3 day break 3 more today.

lgradyh · Thu Apr 03, 2014 10:48 am

For those of us without necessary material to build a Sparrow trap, if you have an unused Bluebird house, attach it to an iron fence post in the middle of your back yard, facing away from the back of your house. Then.....after dark, when the sparrows have gone to roost, slip out there with a plastic bag, quickly slip it down over the house and tap on the house. With the bag tightly grasped around the bottom of the post, with a little more banging on the house, the sparrows wind up inside the bag. Remove the bag, and you have one or more confused SPARROWS!!

Works for me!
May not be as convenient as a trap, but, hey, it still gets the sparrows.

Chriscreole · Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:35 pm

Look at my solution in this thread, this is one quiet rifle

http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... 2d5fd868db

Gobbler T · Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:19 am

I would think with that field on the back side of your house you could use any kind of gun you wish, or are you concerned about the noise with the neighbors. Is your place considered to be in the city limits? If not I say go for it. We're all country folk down here, and it's almost a requirement to shoot a gun every now and then.

Your in Hamilton, not New York.

Bulldog1 · Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:37 am

Tony, no city limits here. But lots of houses and kids in the direction I would have to shoot. Some country folk don't like getting "sprinkled" with bird shot.

But I finally got the male in Uncle Blaine's trap. Usually I don't have more than one pair give me problems.

How are your birds doing?

Carrera Mike · Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:54 am

Last year, I had pair of starling claim one of the rooms of a S&K house that has SREH. Must have been small enough... I put in a mouse trap and got the female first. I had to bring that house several times to set the trap properly. The male kept hanging out so I set the mouse trap again and he must have tap the trap trigger with his beak and that trap got him by the beak.

Other than that, I use an Airforce Condor on them.

chickadee · Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:29 am

do you have any kind of baited trap? I got mine and it took 2 weeks to work. but man it works. I keep 2-3 birds in their at a time. and I have even caught a few starlings in it. the sparrows and starlings are a fan of mealworm suet around here. I just place it under my bird feeder on the ground. I have weaned out a lot of sparrows. but new ones always come. I just keep up the fight.

Gobbler T · Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:38 am

I was thinking that farmers field would make a good background to shoot into. Nobody to sprinkle.

My birds are great. Got to 2 pair as of yesterday with one extra ASY male. Hoping he will find a mate too.

Bulldog1 · Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:48 pm

Chickadee I bait my Uncle Blaines with white bread. And Tony it's on. Will bet you get several pairs this year. Did a nest check today and I have 11 nests so far, so it should be a good year. No sign of the female HOSP, so maybe she went looking for love somewhere else.