Good plan. Set the trap after dark, and you will nab them in the morning, when nesting activities (attracting a mate, etc.,) are most likely.

Get those nasty HOSP Rita. You will never get native birds with those hanging around. Good luck.
Bonnie

Well, yesterday was pouring rain so I didn't
do anything outside. Today I put up the trap nestbox which I have permantely mounted on a moveable pole so that I can just put it up in a minute whenever and wherever I need it. It is just in front of the slotbox house but of course they can still get into the slot house because its still up.

Then I also took out my funnel ground trap and put it on my driveway and sprinkled ground corn around it and seeds going into the funnells and in the middle of the trap. I have used this before also and it works fairly well. Sometimes they do get out though if you leave them long enough to figgure it out.

I have a pair of Chicadees hanging around for the past four days and they have been looking into and checking out all the nestboxes on the property. I hope they choose one of the small chicadee sized entrance hole boxes to nest in as I have boxes with both the small chicadee holes and the regular bluebird entrance holes. I have had the chicadees nest for three years in a row here. Two years they took one (same) box in the side yard and last year they took a box in the back yard. All had the one and a half inch entrance. Go figgure. So this spring I have removed the box in front that they liked as it was on its last legs anyway and put up a small holed entrance box for them in the same spot. I hope they pick that one but you never know.

Ok, so I just saw a head sticking out of the slotbox house again. But it was looking at the new box. They when it went and perched on the shelf looking into the trap box I got a real good look. Its a male House Sparrow. So I figgure he has claimed the slotbox house for nesting and is looking for a wife. He is really interested in the trapbox and looks in the entance hole but I figgure a day or two to get comfortable with it. When I see the House Sparrows go in and out, I set the trap and zappo I get them.

I have been busy so I haven't been paying much attention to the trap box. But this morning I see that not only has a male claimed it but he has a wife and two rivals for the box. There is nesting material in it.

I just set the trap afew minutes ago. I saw two male house sparrows on the ground locked together seriously fighting over the box. They would roll around and peck each other. Another male sat nearby and watched. This is not good. Have to get these before things get totally out of hand.

Unfortuantely I too have some House Sparrows around now. Didn't see them all winter and now they are out and about trying to claim nestboxes. I plan on putting the trap in one of them tonight and hopefully start eliminating them before the Blues return. Last year we had the first Blues nest started around April 12 or so. This year it may be later as we are much colder this year than last year. Last year at this time we were at 70 degrees, this year we haven't even hit the 50's yet and still have lots of snow however it is melting and the grass is showing up slowly.

Donna

I just got him. He is history. Unfortunately there are two others waiting to take his place and he already had a wife. So I reset the trap.

I saw them checking out the box for the chicadees too and looking in but they can't get in there as they entrance hole is too small.

This must be nestbox time for them as they have been checking out everything in the yard including the new Gilwood box.

I also put out the ground sparrow trap again. Its one of those funnel things and I usually get some in there.

That's GREAT Rita! So glad you got him. I hope you get the rest soon too. So far at our new house i haven't seen any HOSP. We have a lot of native sparrows. We are in the country now instead of the city. I keep expecting them but so far so good. Last year was awful for me and the blues. We were covered in nasty HOSP. I feel very bad for the birds we left behind that will have to deal with them on their own now. I took out quite a few last year so maybe that will help them this year. Keep up the good fight!
Bonnie

Well, two more males to go and I am sure that female was the wife of the male HS I got yesterday. I left the trap set overnight and this morning when I looked it was sprung so I thought good, I had gotten another HS. Nope. Instead there was a Starling in there. I was quite surprised.

Starlings have never been a problem around here, maybe because I never had any nestboxes with entrance holes big enought to interest them. So the Starling is history too and I reset the trap again after taking out most of the nesting material that those HS had put in. We will see what I get next.

I had this trap set up last season and only got HS, this is the first Starling that tried it. Of course since its the Purple Martin Society Trap Box, its made to catch both HS and Starlings.

I had a Chicadee in my funnel trap (on the ground) this morning and quickly had to release it. The little thing tried to bite me but there is no power in that little beak to feel even much of a pinch. I had put the ground trap away last week because I was only catching Song Sparrows but took it out again yesterday to see if I could get those HS.

Geez, I had to go and release another Chicadee (or maybe it was the same one) from the ground trap. I put that trap away again as I don't want to upset the Chicadees and am certainly not trying to catch them.

Great to hear you caught the male HOSP and the (lol) wife! You go girl!

Well, this morning I caught another Starling in the trap. I am wondering if the Starlings are driving the HS away. I still want to get those other two males that were rivals for the nestbox of that first male HS. The trap is reset now so I will so if anything comes around. Those Starlings don't seem able to resist it.

Rita When I catch non target birds I just release them and keep the trap out. All my resident birds know by now to stay out as they all have been caught at least one time. Unfortunately the smart hosps soon learn to stay away from the trap too. Some of them seem to sense the birds are stuck in there and they have to be caught in the box traps or meet the bb gun. Keep on trappin'
Cathy

Hey Rita. Sometimes if the other sparrows saw the other sparrow get trapped they will stay away. They are very very intelligent. Soon they will forget tho and make the same mistake the others made. Their instinct to breed is so very strong. Glad your getting starlings too. That's awesome and the woodpeckers and purple martins will surely thank you for it. I do too :-)
Bonnie

Well, its not that I was targeting the Starlings because I have never had them stay here. I am sure that is because I never had boxes up with entrance holes big enough for them. But since I got them, I certainly did not let them go, they are dead now.

This trap box has a big entrance hole as its the trap box I got from the Purple Martin Society. I used it last year and I remember after getting the first HS the next male would sit on top of the box or on the entance shelf and look in but would not go in for days. I left it unset and eventually he couldn't stand it anymore and started building a nest. When I saw that hasppening, I set the trap and of course I got him then. Later I also got two females and after that I guess nesting season was over because no more birds looked at the trap box. Eventually I put it away until I took it out this spring.

Nothing this morning. No Starling or House Sparrow. Those HS used to sit there right by the box and I haven't seen them there yesterday or today. Too much to hope that the Starlings drove them permantly away. They are here somewhere as I hear their stupid cheeping which I guss passes for lovely singing in the HS world.

Since I am getting Starlings at the suet feeder I suddenly last night had the brilliant idea to put out the repeating trap I got from the Purple Martin Society. I hardly ever use it because not once have I even gotten a HS in it, I only catch Starlings in it. But since they are around, might as well take advantage. I set it up under the suet feeder were they go look for dropped crumbs of suet and used some pieces of crumpled up bread for bait. Will see how this works or if it works.

Rita I have the upside down suet feeder so the starlings can't get at it. You can use suet or peanut butter suet to bait the ground trap. You will catch starlings and hosps with it.
Cathy

Do you have the repeating trap? I never have any luck with it for HS and only sometimes for Starlings.

Usually the Starlings are not a problem here. They only pass thru for afew days like this when they flock up in the spring and later they dissapear from my yard.

If they decide to stay, I will deffinate get the upside down suet feeder as I have a steady stream of woodpeckers all day long, far more than I have ever had before.

I think its because I used to get the cheepo suet cakes in Walmart, the plainest cheapest. But this winter I got my suet from Duncrat and got the Peanut treat and Nutty Treat and the birds absolutely love them.

Rita I have the drst - deluxe repeating sparrow trap from Uncle Blaine and I also have the Van Ert box traps. I have literally caught hundreds of sparrows with the drst. I have not had much luck with the drst and starlings but Renee here catches them all the time. The sparrows get wise to both after a while so I'm having my husband build me a new kind of box trap that I found on a Purple Martin web site that is a repeating box trap. Here is the other trap. I can't wait to use it!!!! http://www.abirdshome.com/pm/spartrap.htm
Cathy

Here is a link that might be useful: a bird's home sparrow trap

Thanks. I have never been that happy with the Purple Martin Society trap. Its got problems. The landing shelf is so flimsy and I have to prop it up with a soup can. The bait tray was alway fished out by squirrells. The last time they must have fished it out for good as I can't find it and had to improvise a tray today out of aluminum foil.

I like the looks of this one and when I read the customer coments and got to the one were the person said it worked so much better than the one from the Purple Martin Society, that was it for me.

I already ordered it. Loved those customer pictures on his site. I can't imagine how many House Sparrows that one person must have to need three traps stacked in a row!

Well, its a drizzeling type light rainey day. The back and side yards are just full of birds. Nothing in the nest box trap again today so it seems that the Starlings really did frighten the House Sparrows away from the box. We will see how long that lasts as I am sure that some nerdy HS will pick it for a nesting spot sooner or later.

I put out and baited both my ground traps, the Purple Martin Society rereating one and my funnel ground trap. The problem with the funnel trap is that its always a risk to leave decoy HS in it as sometimes they do figgure out how to escape. Seems like the longer they are in there, the smarter they get.

I watched a Starling constantly sticking itself in as far as it could get to steal some food but of course they are too big to get in the funnell trap. They have so far ignored the other trap.

Caught two song sparrows, a house sparrow and a Mockingbird in my sparrow trap. Yes, a mockingbird. Don't know how it fit but there it was. I let out the good guys and left the HS as a decoy hoping for more but unfortunately, it figgured out an escape plan and got away. This is why I don't like to leave them in there as if they stay for a long time, they often get out.

They will NOT get out of the drst trap. I hope it comes soon.
Cathy

I was surprises at the service. I only ordered it Sunday and it was shipped yesterday, Monday. I guess when people order these traps they are in dire need of them so he gets them out soon.

This morning I got a song sparrow in my funnel trap and since I have to go out later and can't moniter it, I put it away for today. I would think those song sparrows would catch on as I trap them everyday but it doesn't seem like they ever do.

Well, this morning I saw a male House Sparrow on top of my new Gilwood Box sitting there and singing. This afternoon I see he is carrying nesting material into the box. So much for the HS do not like this box thinking.

NOTHING is HOSP-proof. My understanding is that the Gilwood Box, with the slot opening, is designed so that a bird cannot be trapped by a HOSP because there is enough space to escape the attack. The Gilbertson PVC is not preferred by HOSP because of the slippery surface, no perch, and small internal size. However, nothing is HOSP-proof. NOTHING.
Perhaps you could trap this persistant fellow with an in-box trap, if not in the Gilwood, in another nestbox with an in-box trap. This is the best time of year for that technique.
BlueBars

Even though I love my Gilwood box, my HOSP like it as well as any of my boxes.
Tammy

I have had a HOSP escape the DRST. He dropped in the wheel, squeezed between the wheel and the trap flap, got up onto the weighted end of the wheel elevator, climbed on top of the wheel and hopped out. In just a matter of seconds. They are so smart that they scare me. After that i put dark cloth over the mesh at the end of the weights and they never went toward the light again and moved on into the trap flap and toward the light in the cage part.
Bonnie

I received the trap very quickly. Have it set up for two days, this will be day three. Did read all their directions carefully. Nothing yet. Yesterday I caught a female HS in my nestbox trap and foolishly got rid of her, not thinking to put her in the trap as a decoy. This morning I got a male HS in the nestbox trap and put him in the sparrow trap for my decoy. Will see if that helps get more attention.

Boy is this a nasty one. He bit and bit and pecked at me when I grabbed him and he is flying around the sparrow trap pissed as can be.

I've never had much luck with decoys, male or female, either because of neighborhood cats, bratty kids, chipmunks, or hawks attracted by all the fluttering. For me it wasn't worth the trouble of food, water, shade, and bringing them in at night. Then there's the risk of escape and becoming trap-wise.
BlueBars

Rita maybe if you hide your trap under a bush that you have seen HOSP in, it would speed it up for you. Also the weights can be tricky because a lot of HOSP are not as heavy as a quarter. Hawks will be attracted to a fluttering bird and will become a nuisance about it too. Try to hide your trap under a bush to make the scared bird calmer. Hope this helps you some. Its from my own personal experience from last year. Nothing more shocking than looking out your window and seeing a huge Coopers hawk sitting on your cage! Really cool and bad at the same time. Wish i had got a picture tho.
Bonnie

No hawks noticed the HS decoy. I left him in there all day but since I do not want to take the trap in and out of my garage for the night, I dispatched the HS before dark.

I will think about another spot in my yard that might be better but I really think they can see it fine were it is. They land in the crabapple tree and then fly over to eat the suet and the trap is right there were they fly over plus they can see it from the tree.

Well, today I caught another HS male in my nestbox trap so I put him in the sparrow trap this morning as a decoy. I have yet to catch anything or even see them land on the trap or near it to check it out. Getting frustrated.

It doesn't seem to matter if I have a decoy in the trap or not. I still don't catch any in the trap. They don't even come to check out the trap, much less go in. Getting very frustrated. I guess I will try moving it to another location and see if that might work.

I used to put white bread in mine and they loved that. I dispatched about 150 last year at our other house before we moved. I had a large Rose-of-Sharon shrub that they liked to hang out in.
Bonnie

I just got a HOSP trap. Forgive the newbie here. It has traps on both sides with a holding compartment in the center. Unfortunately I got it too late. I had my first bluebird pair just building their nest (I put up a pair of boxes last year). The nest wasn't even completed and I found the female bb dead this morning. I'm assuming it was the male HOSP that has been hanging around harrassing them. I don't even know if he has a mate. I have also seen a starling. They have no interest in that house except when the bb's are there. Anyway, the trap will go out as soon as I can get myself organized. I am planning on getting CO2. Is that a good idea? I have to get moving on this. I also have a purple martin house that I'll be opening soon.

Well, I now know from person experience that the sparrow trap does work. Unfortunately not a House Sparrow but a Chicadee got caught so I immediately released it. I dumped out all the seed that was bait and replaced it with cracker crumbs. I don't have any now but when I go to the store, I am going to get some popcorn and try that. I don't have any of the white millet which they suggest, although I suppose I could try cracked corn that the pests would probably eat.

I have NEVER caught a House Sparrow in the repeating trap. I tried it above ground as they said then decided to try it on the ground. Nothing. They are all around the darn thing but pay no attention to it.

I tried popcorn, white bread and suet, nothing worked.

Now to make me more cranky, a pair of HS have taken up nesting in the front yard Gilwood box. I watched them mating on top of the nestbox and then going inside.

Early this spring I had a male HS claim that box but I caught him with my nestbox trap. Guess I am going to have to try again.