Hmm... a pair of sparrows thought they'd occupy our unused Natureline this week. Caught 'em one after the other with a trap entrance in a span of about twenty minutes, tail clipped them to the nubs, and let them go.
Prior to this we had caught and released eight sparrows this way, all of which left the premises, so I was optimistic for success. Much to my chagrin the most recent male, bare behind and all, returned to chirrup enthusiastically from a rosebush near the gourds maybe four hours after capture. The first time one had even been seen after clipping. Then he flew off, energetic and tailless, for about 200 yards (ironically enough, he had a tailwind).
BUT, it has been three days now and I ain't seen either of 'em since, tho' the gourd still sits empty and inviting and I've been checking.
So I'm going to cautiously declare victory, at least for now... Tail-clipping sparrows has proven quick, convenient, and looks promising.
Mike Scully
Tail-clipping Sparrows: 10 for 10 success rate thus far.
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Guss P O'Brien
Mr. Scully,
Would you mind posting a photo of what the sparrow looks like after clipping?
Would you mind posting a photo of what the sparrow looks like after clipping?
. Ok, I know don't work for everybody that can't use these tools. Mine look like there laying on the backs with the feet up in the air! 
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Guest
Why bother? If you clip a bird's tail, then it can't take off successfully. It can't gain any real altitude without tail feathers; therefore, it cannot effectively escape predators for very long. So, why bother releasing instead of terminating the sparrows at all if you are only leaving the creature to live in fear for a few days until something larger comes along and eats it? You're just leaving the dirty work to nature. Being quickly shot seems to me much more humane than being eaten alive by a cat.
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CUL Lou~Mich
Shelley. I believe Scully is a teacher, or other worker at a school. His colony is in the school yard. If you watch the news, you'll know that schools, and other public places have gone absolutely stupid nowdays. No prayer, No bibles, No God, BUT, kids can bring assault rifles and handguns to school. Also from what I hear nearly every kind of drug. Those are okay, but NOT common sense. Therefore Scully isn't allowed to use terminal control on English House Sparrows, or European Starlings. Now it might be different if he could talk one of the students into shooting everything in sight. CUL Lou
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Guest
I would like to see a picture of the hosps in question a couple of weeks after their feather were clipped. How does subjecting the things to a death by slow starvation resolve anything?
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
Things are not right at the schools when an instructor is not allowed (due to public pressure) to tell the children the truth of what must be done, and then he does it. How can we ever teach responsibility to children when the adult teachers are not allowed to do the responsibile thing? Of all people, I would think that a school teacher would demand that the truth, and the responsible thing be done, or they are not doing their job correctly. Now Scully, I am not picking on you personally, but that is the sad state of affairs that is prevalent in our society today. It is occuring at all the schools...
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
Mike,
After you capture the house sparrows, why couldn't you discreetly remove them from the school and humanely dispose of the sparrows at your house or some other location? I do understand the pressure you are under at a school not to kill sparrows and starlings in front of students. Public executions of sparrows would probably not be tolerated at a school and would generate considerable controversy and outrage from certain groups like PETA and other misguided animal rights folks!
Steve
After you capture the house sparrows, why couldn't you discreetly remove them from the school and humanely dispose of the sparrows at your house or some other location? I do understand the pressure you are under at a school not to kill sparrows and starlings in front of students. Public executions of sparrows would probably not be tolerated at a school and would generate considerable controversy and outrage from certain groups like PETA and other misguided animal rights folks!
Steve
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flyin-lowe
- Posts: 3789
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:49 am
- Location: Indiana/Henry Co.
If clipping the tail feathers is all you are allowed to do then I guess that will help your sight. But I doubt that all of these birds have perished and some probably survive to cause problems for other people. I would like to see them taken away from the school and then properly disposed of.
Not to start up a tiresome debate, but if I kill the S&S I trap, this is what the public remembers. Not the martins, not the whole Neotropical migrant issue, not conservation but "How many birds did you kill Mr Scully?" along with strong objections from some camps.
This will be a reality I believe for anyone promoting martineering in a public setting, and we NEED public martin colonies, all we can get, as this present TV/online generation comes of age. I see lots of old housing in my city, but precious little in the newer developements.
For most prospective landlords, the thought of the systematic trapping and killing of "birds" is not what they had in mind when contemplating putting up that nice bird house or set of Indian gourds in their back yard.
All the arguments about "well these people don't deserve martins etc etc" have been rehashed many times over but the fact remains that these sort of folks are the bread and butter of our present purple martin population. Without them the species cannot continue, there are simply not enough of us truly committed people.
I am not a member of PETA, nor do I have problems with killing S&S.
Fortunately, the advent and spread of the SREH has been perhaps the single greatest advance in martineering since the first Indian had a bright idea and hung out the first set of gourds. Which leaves us with sparrows.
I would not consider clipping the primaries of any bird, such DOES impede flight ability, requiring them to expend a huge amount of energy to get around, if able to fly at all.
Taillessness is another thing entirely. Wild birds devoid of tail feathers are seen regularly, in fact most great-tailed grackles lose all of their tail feathers at once in the fall and becomes functionally tailless for a period of time.
The absence of a tail does not impede lift much, it does impeded aerial mobility and also stability in flight, the tail acting as a drag. Tailless swallows typically compensate by flapping more and gliding less, the same is true of small birds with undulating flight like S&S.
Point of interest, Barn Swallows pass through here in absolute drove in late summer. On one mid-September school trip to Corpus Christi (S.E of here) we drove through a flock going S.W. across the Interstate that was EIGHT MILES wide, as in at least hundred swallows being visible crossing the highway for all that time, and the dots of innumerable numbers more approaching from the northeast.
At that time of year there are always a few in these flocks missing primaries or tails. While those missing many primaries look seriously impeded, the tailless ones seem to do quite well.
Certainly that particular male sparrow I mentioned flew up and flew some distance above several rooftops as it flew away, before diving back down. Indeed, had it not flown high I could not have followed it so far.
This year we have suffered no starlings (probably an effect of the drought) but in years past we have tail-clipped and transported them. One, with only a "V" cut in the tail (one of our first trials) returned to nest on a light fixture on an adjacent street. Another entirely tailless starling returned from about 25 miles away and for a while was energetically advertising from another light fixture across the street. I did not see him get a mate, after a couple of days he may have moved on.
Back to the Barn Swallow I mentioned. Studies have shown that the long "swallow" tail of this species is important in mate selection, those individuals having unusually short or assymetrical tail streamers having a tougher time impressing prospective mates.
In house sparrows, those males with larger and darker bibs are socially dominant and attract mates, not much I can do about their bibs. In courtship display they do drop their wings and raise and fan their tails.
Hence my idea to clip tail feathers has NOTHING to do with impeding flight, and everything to do with impeding mating. A tail-clipped sparrow too presumably doesn't look like a typical sparrow to prospective mates. And appearance IS almost universally important when trying to get a mate, just look at ourselves.
Tail-clipped birds are instantly recognisable too, should they return
While a tail-clipped sparrow might be expected to be less manouverable, point of fact aerial predators are few and far between in this city at this season. Heck, we even lost our Shrikes this year. Sparrows too feed primarily on the ground, or from a perch.
Four hours is a long time for a songbird, and four hours later that male returned and was calling, presumably after having fed sometime during that time. When alarmed it flew off long and high.
What I'm looking for is a quick and easy way to deter problem sparrows when killing isn't an option.
Mary Wilson has written here in the past that simply removing house sparrow nests a couple of times a week from public colonies on a golf course in Ontario has proven quite effective, revenge syndrome notwithstanding.
I have been doing this this spring in an as yet empty gourdset we put up at a local wildlife refuge (where time commitments have not allowed me to simply trap 'em out), with little apparent success thus far. I believed I have removed about thirty complete nests and a few eggs this spring from that one gourd pole, cleaning the gourds out twice a week.
As it always does, our sparrow season is tapering off as it grows hotter, so I don't anticipate many more captures. What I will do from here on in is clip off 2/3 of the tail and see how that works.
I will try and post a pic of the next one I catch.
Mike Scully
This will be a reality I believe for anyone promoting martineering in a public setting, and we NEED public martin colonies, all we can get, as this present TV/online generation comes of age. I see lots of old housing in my city, but precious little in the newer developements.
For most prospective landlords, the thought of the systematic trapping and killing of "birds" is not what they had in mind when contemplating putting up that nice bird house or set of Indian gourds in their back yard.
All the arguments about "well these people don't deserve martins etc etc" have been rehashed many times over but the fact remains that these sort of folks are the bread and butter of our present purple martin population. Without them the species cannot continue, there are simply not enough of us truly committed people.
I am not a member of PETA, nor do I have problems with killing S&S.
Fortunately, the advent and spread of the SREH has been perhaps the single greatest advance in martineering since the first Indian had a bright idea and hung out the first set of gourds. Which leaves us with sparrows.
I would not consider clipping the primaries of any bird, such DOES impede flight ability, requiring them to expend a huge amount of energy to get around, if able to fly at all.
Taillessness is another thing entirely. Wild birds devoid of tail feathers are seen regularly, in fact most great-tailed grackles lose all of their tail feathers at once in the fall and becomes functionally tailless for a period of time.
The absence of a tail does not impede lift much, it does impeded aerial mobility and also stability in flight, the tail acting as a drag. Tailless swallows typically compensate by flapping more and gliding less, the same is true of small birds with undulating flight like S&S.
Point of interest, Barn Swallows pass through here in absolute drove in late summer. On one mid-September school trip to Corpus Christi (S.E of here) we drove through a flock going S.W. across the Interstate that was EIGHT MILES wide, as in at least hundred swallows being visible crossing the highway for all that time, and the dots of innumerable numbers more approaching from the northeast.
At that time of year there are always a few in these flocks missing primaries or tails. While those missing many primaries look seriously impeded, the tailless ones seem to do quite well.
Certainly that particular male sparrow I mentioned flew up and flew some distance above several rooftops as it flew away, before diving back down. Indeed, had it not flown high I could not have followed it so far.
This year we have suffered no starlings (probably an effect of the drought) but in years past we have tail-clipped and transported them. One, with only a "V" cut in the tail (one of our first trials) returned to nest on a light fixture on an adjacent street. Another entirely tailless starling returned from about 25 miles away and for a while was energetically advertising from another light fixture across the street. I did not see him get a mate, after a couple of days he may have moved on.
Back to the Barn Swallow I mentioned. Studies have shown that the long "swallow" tail of this species is important in mate selection, those individuals having unusually short or assymetrical tail streamers having a tougher time impressing prospective mates.
In house sparrows, those males with larger and darker bibs are socially dominant and attract mates, not much I can do about their bibs. In courtship display they do drop their wings and raise and fan their tails.
Hence my idea to clip tail feathers has NOTHING to do with impeding flight, and everything to do with impeding mating. A tail-clipped sparrow too presumably doesn't look like a typical sparrow to prospective mates. And appearance IS almost universally important when trying to get a mate, just look at ourselves.
Tail-clipped birds are instantly recognisable too, should they return
While a tail-clipped sparrow might be expected to be less manouverable, point of fact aerial predators are few and far between in this city at this season. Heck, we even lost our Shrikes this year. Sparrows too feed primarily on the ground, or from a perch.
Four hours is a long time for a songbird, and four hours later that male returned and was calling, presumably after having fed sometime during that time. When alarmed it flew off long and high.
What I'm looking for is a quick and easy way to deter problem sparrows when killing isn't an option.
Mary Wilson has written here in the past that simply removing house sparrow nests a couple of times a week from public colonies on a golf course in Ontario has proven quite effective, revenge syndrome notwithstanding.
I have been doing this this spring in an as yet empty gourdset we put up at a local wildlife refuge (where time commitments have not allowed me to simply trap 'em out), with little apparent success thus far. I believed I have removed about thirty complete nests and a few eggs this spring from that one gourd pole, cleaning the gourds out twice a week.
As it always does, our sparrow season is tapering off as it grows hotter, so I don't anticipate many more captures. What I will do from here on in is clip off 2/3 of the tail and see how that works.
I will try and post a pic of the next one I catch.
Mike Scully
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Guss P O'Brien
The close-minded "it's my way or the highway" types out there need to realize that it is important to have more options than shooting and trapping and killing to control house sparrows if you really care about getting more people involved in hosting birds in well managed sites.
Wipe the foam from your mouth and take a deep breath and imagine how things would be if the people who invented the SREH had the opinion that the only way to control starlings is shooting and killing, and if I try anything else I must be stupid. Well, they would not have considered developing passive control techniques (SREH). Then people who aren't home all the time wouldn't be able to host martins. We'd have to give up or tolerate starlings.
A passive sparrow control technique would be the next great leap forward in hosting martins. The idea of changing the sparrows appearance to the point where they aren't interested in nesting- by tail clipping or other- could lead to a passive sparrow control technique. Imagine if you were able to sprinkle some harmless substance like a purple dye on the backs of all birds entering your compartments. Well the martins shouldn't care if their backs were purple, but the sparrows might not like being purple backed so much that they give up on nesting.
I commend Mr. Scully for finding a way to adapt to his setting, finding a way to host a successful colony and not wasting time fighting city hall or the school board. And I commend him for posting the results of his non-lethal control techniques. We need to try to figure out what it is about the harmless clipping of tail feathers that makes the sparrows give up. You never know, it might give someone an idea on how to develop a passive means to control house sparrows. Can we all agree that this would be a good thing?
Wipe the foam from your mouth and take a deep breath and imagine how things would be if the people who invented the SREH had the opinion that the only way to control starlings is shooting and killing, and if I try anything else I must be stupid. Well, they would not have considered developing passive control techniques (SREH). Then people who aren't home all the time wouldn't be able to host martins. We'd have to give up or tolerate starlings.
A passive sparrow control technique would be the next great leap forward in hosting martins. The idea of changing the sparrows appearance to the point where they aren't interested in nesting- by tail clipping or other- could lead to a passive sparrow control technique. Imagine if you were able to sprinkle some harmless substance like a purple dye on the backs of all birds entering your compartments. Well the martins shouldn't care if their backs were purple, but the sparrows might not like being purple backed so much that they give up on nesting.
I commend Mr. Scully for finding a way to adapt to his setting, finding a way to host a successful colony and not wasting time fighting city hall or the school board. And I commend him for posting the results of his non-lethal control techniques. We need to try to figure out what it is about the harmless clipping of tail feathers that makes the sparrows give up. You never know, it might give someone an idea on how to develop a passive means to control house sparrows. Can we all agree that this would be a good thing?
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Glen Webb Jr
- Posts: 478
- Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2004 1:03 pm
- Location: Illinois/Stewardson
Granted, I shoot and trap to kill, but this method is not for everyone, whether they want to do it or not. There WILL be cases where killing and shooting just simply are not allowed.
Scully, I also commend you for your efforts. At least you're trying the options that you have. And you are correct. The public opinion tends to be "how many birds have you killed for that one bird?" It's very true. Very sad? Yes, but it's a reality one must understand.
As far as the humane ideals of tail-clipping are concerned, I don't think it's inhumane at all. Those sparrows are NOT STARVING. They simply have a more difficult time gaining lift and flying high. They can still feed at bird feeders, etc. They probably cannot nest, at least for one breeding season, if they survive. But at the same time, I've seen dozens of birds with missing tails over the years, especially mourning doves, grackles, and red-winged blackbirds. I've had martins before with partial and no tail feathers at all. Maybe the sparrows are unaffected in the long term, I don't really know. But I doubt they are suffering too much in regards to what Scully is doing.
Scully, I also commend you for your efforts. At least you're trying the options that you have. And you are correct. The public opinion tends to be "how many birds have you killed for that one bird?" It's very true. Very sad? Yes, but it's a reality one must understand.
As far as the humane ideals of tail-clipping are concerned, I don't think it's inhumane at all. Those sparrows are NOT STARVING. They simply have a more difficult time gaining lift and flying high. They can still feed at bird feeders, etc. They probably cannot nest, at least for one breeding season, if they survive. But at the same time, I've seen dozens of birds with missing tails over the years, especially mourning doves, grackles, and red-winged blackbirds. I've had martins before with partial and no tail feathers at all. Maybe the sparrows are unaffected in the long term, I don't really know. But I doubt they are suffering too much in regards to what Scully is doing.
Just to clarify things. I DO tell the students about the damage that S&S do, I DO tell them that lethal control works best. Once they know about martins, most of them are all for it. In fact I've had students preferentially target S&S with their slingshots and bb guns in their own neighborhoods after taking my class.
But even with those students who favor it, the S&S body count comes to far exceed the discussion of martins. Their family members too hear not so much about the appeal of martins, but LOTS about the apparently extraordinary act of trapping and killing "birds" on a school campus.
The year I did kill, all of the killing and trapping was done quietly and out of sight. Just the concept of the deed was enough to grab the attention of the public.
At the same time NOT telling them I was killing would have meant skipping the topic of S&S damage entirely, or else lying to keen-eyed and perceptive groups of persistent inquisitors (teenagers).
Mike Scully
But even with those students who favor it, the S&S body count comes to far exceed the discussion of martins. Their family members too hear not so much about the appeal of martins, but LOTS about the apparently extraordinary act of trapping and killing "birds" on a school campus.
The year I did kill, all of the killing and trapping was done quietly and out of sight. Just the concept of the deed was enough to grab the attention of the public.
At the same time NOT telling them I was killing would have meant skipping the topic of S&S damage entirely, or else lying to keen-eyed and perceptive groups of persistent inquisitors (teenagers).
Mike Scully
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Dale Hrncirik
Scully,
Here's another idea to consider...
You are a science teacher, right? Is it possilbe to work a little biology into the curriculum? If so, you could take the the male HOSPs into your classroom and remove their little reproductive organs and then let them go. You could also do the same with the females. This would leave no doubt that the sparrows you release could ever breed again.
Hope this helps
Dale
Here's another idea to consider...
You are a science teacher, right? Is it possilbe to work a little biology into the curriculum? If so, you could take the the male HOSPs into your classroom and remove their little reproductive organs and then let them go. You could also do the same with the females. This would leave no doubt that the sparrows you release could ever breed again.
Hope this helps
Dale
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CUL Lou~Mich
If the black bib has something to do with breeding, how about using a marker and painting it the wrong color?? CUL Lou
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Mary Wilson-SW Ont
- Posts: 218
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 6:24 pm
- Location: Leamington Ontario
Mike, I am totally behind your philosophy on S+S control in your particular situation. Each landlord should choose the greater good for the future of their martin colony, and I believe, as you do, that your martins will not be helped by you insisting that the public accept the killing of one bird in favor of another. And I can certainly see why the focus would quickly become ?the kill?, rather than ?the colony? ? I have seen this preoccupation with the ?bad? of the hobby rather than the ?good? of it just in casual conversations at the two public locations where I monitor martin colonies.
So although this topic is a tad overcooked by now, I?ll make a few points based on our experiences at public venues.
First, most people can be convinced to toss out S+S eggs long before they can be convinced (or learn for themselves) that the best control is the lethal kind. At one golf course location, where in addition to a large PM colony we also have 80 bird boxes throughout the property, we have 5 volunteer ?trail monitors? who check their boxes once a week and keep records. The reasons for control, as well as recognition of S+S nests/eggs, were explained to them, and they have no problem tearing out ?the bad birds?. We make no secret of this passive control, and I never hear any negative feedback, in fact I hear positive comments about the increase in bird life and diversity over the years. However, if we had demanded that they trap and kill, not only would we have no volunteers, but we would possibly have had the golf course?s support withdrawn due to the negative aspects. The gain has been 200 ? 350 tree swallows fledged each year since the program started, and a few bluebirds too.
Second, trapping in some situations simply cannot be done, so passive control is way superior to doing nothing. The first year we established our martin colony at the golf course, we quickly learned that the whole property was overrun with sparrows. That first year we threw out over 900 sparrow eggs, so you can see why trapping was not even feasible. I stopped counting after that, but each year we saw fewer and fewer sparrows. Yes, we had sparrow revenge. But that was an unavoidable short-term loss for a long-term gain, and egg-tossing was the only option for us. Obviously, those 900 eggs if allowed to hatch 10 or so years ago, would have escalated into a monumental problem. Instead, we have a martin colony that has grown steadily and produced thousands of martins, all with mostly passive control. (Now that sparrows are down to a more manageable number, some trapping is possible and is done discreetly.)
Third, many people are given PM houses as gifts, inherit them when they move to a new house, have a wood-working hobby, or just decide to take up birding as a new hobby. Some will be more informed than others and more receptive to advice. But we should realize that just saying to someone ?KILL the S+S, or DON?T PUT UP A MARTIN HOUSE?, is not going to stop them from putting up the house! If we don?t give them an alternative to killing (which many people find abhorrent until they see first hand the damage that can be done), then we have martin housing that is totally unmanaged. What would you rather have in the yard next door to you? A neighbour who will at least throw out S+S eggs, or one who does nothing because he hasn?t been given an alternative to killing? A neighbour who will, most likely, eventually make the transition from passive control to lethal control because of what he experiences? That is what happened to me - it took me a good many years before I myself could kill a bird (mind you, my husband did the dirty work in the meantime
). I now can do it myself with no compunction whatsoever, and I think I am representative of many people, perhaps women in particular, who arrive at that point because they have seen the damage S+S do.
At our second golf course colony, I do all the bird boxes (about 40) and the PM housing myself. I sometimes trap, but also throw out eggs. Many golfers are curious and they approach me to ask what I am doing. I explain that sparrows are damaging to our native birds, and that I am trapping them and will release them some miles away. I always take a large wood/wire cage with me, hidden inside one of those large paper yard-waste bags, and I deposit the sparrow in it. My explanation satisfies people, and they are interested and amazed to learn how nasty sparrows can be, and go away with no bad feelings about my control methods. There is no reason to enlighten them further. Certain people (the owner, for instance) at the golf course know the truth of what happens to those sparrows ? but they are happy that I am discreet in what I am doing ? they want the bird program to succeed and don?t want any hassles over it. What I do in my own backyard is my business and no-one can challenge me and make me stop. But offended people could raise objections at these two public venues that could shut down my programs. Likewise, Mike?s very valuable program at his school could be jeopardized if people got upset over it.
So please don?t discount the value of passive control. It is a very worthy and beneficial alternative for anyone who WILL NOT or CANNOT do lethal control.
So although this topic is a tad overcooked by now,
I?ll make a few points based on our experiences at public venues. First, most people can be convinced to toss out S+S eggs long before they can be convinced (or learn for themselves) that the best control is the lethal kind. At one golf course location, where in addition to a large PM colony we also have 80 bird boxes throughout the property, we have 5 volunteer ?trail monitors? who check their boxes once a week and keep records. The reasons for control, as well as recognition of S+S nests/eggs, were explained to them, and they have no problem tearing out ?the bad birds?. We make no secret of this passive control, and I never hear any negative feedback, in fact I hear positive comments about the increase in bird life and diversity over the years. However, if we had demanded that they trap and kill, not only would we have no volunteers, but we would possibly have had the golf course?s support withdrawn due to the negative aspects. The gain has been 200 ? 350 tree swallows fledged each year since the program started, and a few bluebirds too.
Second, trapping in some situations simply cannot be done, so passive control is way superior to doing nothing. The first year we established our martin colony at the golf course, we quickly learned that the whole property was overrun with sparrows. That first year we threw out over 900 sparrow eggs, so you can see why trapping was not even feasible. I stopped counting after that, but each year we saw fewer and fewer sparrows. Yes, we had sparrow revenge. But that was an unavoidable short-term loss for a long-term gain, and egg-tossing was the only option for us. Obviously, those 900 eggs if allowed to hatch 10 or so years ago, would have escalated into a monumental problem. Instead, we have a martin colony that has grown steadily and produced thousands of martins, all with mostly passive control. (Now that sparrows are down to a more manageable number, some trapping is possible and is done discreetly.)
Third, many people are given PM houses as gifts, inherit them when they move to a new house, have a wood-working hobby, or just decide to take up birding as a new hobby. Some will be more informed than others and more receptive to advice. But we should realize that just saying to someone ?KILL the S+S, or DON?T PUT UP A MARTIN HOUSE?, is not going to stop them from putting up the house! If we don?t give them an alternative to killing (which many people find abhorrent until they see first hand the damage that can be done), then we have martin housing that is totally unmanaged. What would you rather have in the yard next door to you? A neighbour who will at least throw out S+S eggs, or one who does nothing because he hasn?t been given an alternative to killing? A neighbour who will, most likely, eventually make the transition from passive control to lethal control because of what he experiences? That is what happened to me - it took me a good many years before I myself could kill a bird (mind you, my husband did the dirty work in the meantime
). I now can do it myself with no compunction whatsoever, and I think I am representative of many people, perhaps women in particular, who arrive at that point because they have seen the damage S+S do. At our second golf course colony, I do all the bird boxes (about 40) and the PM housing myself. I sometimes trap, but also throw out eggs. Many golfers are curious and they approach me to ask what I am doing. I explain that sparrows are damaging to our native birds, and that I am trapping them and will release them some miles away. I always take a large wood/wire cage with me, hidden inside one of those large paper yard-waste bags, and I deposit the sparrow in it. My explanation satisfies people, and they are interested and amazed to learn how nasty sparrows can be, and go away with no bad feelings about my control methods. There is no reason to enlighten them further. Certain people (the owner, for instance) at the golf course know the truth of what happens to those sparrows ? but they are happy that I am discreet in what I am doing ? they want the bird program to succeed and don?t want any hassles over it. What I do in my own backyard is my business and no-one can challenge me and make me stop. But offended people could raise objections at these two public venues that could shut down my programs. Likewise, Mike?s very valuable program at his school could be jeopardized if people got upset over it.
So please don?t discount the value of passive control. It is a very worthy and beneficial alternative for anyone who WILL NOT or CANNOT do lethal control.
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Guest
You all seem to be saying the people only shoot Sparrows and Starlings for martins, what about the rest of the cavity nesting species out there being tormented and killed by these non native?
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John Kendall
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 3:36 pm
- Location: IN/Valparaiso
I finally got the nasty HS that has been hanging around and building nests. Had a cocktail, sitting on the deck with my wife and neighbor, when he landed on top of the PM house, so I had a clear shot and had to take it even though in front of others--
"I shot him, I shot him dead. I shot the house sparrow, but I did not shoot the cowbirds yet."
I agree about the damage other birds do, esp. the cowbirds.
In the winter, they gather in huge flocks and we ought to have mass "cowbird shoots", although this could never be open to all comers, as one man's identification of the cowbird may end up shooting the wrong species.
"I shot him, I shot him dead. I shot the house sparrow, but I did not shoot the cowbirds yet."
I agree about the damage other birds do, esp. the cowbirds.
In the winter, they gather in huge flocks and we ought to have mass "cowbird shoots", although this could never be open to all comers, as one man's identification of the cowbird may end up shooting the wrong species.
Another three sparrows added to the data base today, two males and a female. This time the methodology was to hold the tail projecting out between two fingers and then just cut it off square (sorry, my digital was being used for something else).
The whole operation took less than five minutes... check trap, lower gourd pole, remove trap gourd, place inside large trash bag with trash bag opening held close around arm while removing Natureline trap entrance. Grab sparrow by feel, take it out of bag securely in hand, clip tail with single stroke of scissors, let it go. Reset entrance, insert in gourd, slip gourd back over althread rod, raise pole.
Thirteen sparrows now. I'm not used to this many sparrows this late, partly it must be the absence of the shrikes. But also, in this drought, the gourds are like a ghost town in the day. Foraging parents quickly in and out with meager mouthfuls snapped up by young, no subbies squabbling around the gourds being a nuisance, no adults relaxing and preening.. The sparrows have free reign
I'll keep folks informed if any sparrows come back.
Mike Scully
The whole operation took less than five minutes... check trap, lower gourd pole, remove trap gourd, place inside large trash bag with trash bag opening held close around arm while removing Natureline trap entrance. Grab sparrow by feel, take it out of bag securely in hand, clip tail with single stroke of scissors, let it go. Reset entrance, insert in gourd, slip gourd back over althread rod, raise pole.
Thirteen sparrows now. I'm not used to this many sparrows this late, partly it must be the absence of the shrikes. But also, in this drought, the gourds are like a ghost town in the day. Foraging parents quickly in and out with meager mouthfuls snapped up by young, no subbies squabbling around the gourds being a nuisance, no adults relaxing and preening.. The sparrows have free reign
I'll keep folks informed if any sparrows come back.
Mike Scully