Smart Sparrow

18 years ago

I have had the same pair of Blues nesting in my back yard box for the past 3 seasons now. Well they made the nest for the second round this season and there's been a HOSP hangin' round. Every time the Blues show up he'll go in the box and stay inside and block the hole. It makes the Blues go nuts. They start protesting and wing wavin' like crazy. I've even put the Van Ert trap in the box and when I do he will not go in but block the hole from the outside of the box. I put up my spare trap box in hopes the HOSP would go to it, but now the Blues have taken a strong interest to it. Anybody ever have a situation like this?

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Comments (5)

blue_happy
18 years ago
Luckily, I have only seen a few HOSPs in my yard over the past several years. What I did once was watch the box until I saw a HOSP go in. I then snuck up on the box from the back and quickly crammed a rag in the hole to trap him. The rest is "history". Good luck.

Harold
bbcathy
18 years ago
I have had some really smart sparrows too. When I put the Van Ert in now I take some straw and cover the arms of the trap with it. I just use scotch tape and I also tape a leaf over the orange dot and they usually go right in. I would put the two boxes as far apart as I could until I catch him.

Harold I did the same thing except with my hand. I think the only reason I was able to catch him in there was because like dodger said he was blocking the blues from getting in the house and was occupied watching them have a fit because he was in their box. Then I was stuck out there hollering for my daughter or someone to bring me the bag to put over the house. LOL
Good Luck
Cathy
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HOSP love white feathers. Perhaps you could put a few white craft feathers into the box that the HOSP seems interested in, then set the VanErt. Also, make sure to check it often in case one of the Blues does decide to enter that box. Since it is winter, the HOSP may be using that box as a night roost. What has worked for me is to set the VanErt trap before dark, and I've usually caught him by morning. I think I would move the mealworm feeder further away from the nest boxes so the Blues will get used to its new location by spring. My mealworm feeder is probably at least 300 feet from the nest boxes out back, and the Blues have no trouble accessing it when nesting time comes.
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I would like to update my case. The HOSP made one more attempt (when the wounded BB baby was still alive, but seemed could not compete for food), but that time I noticed that BB parents behaved strange and hesitated to enter the house, though they did not sound very concerned. Just in case I approached the house and stuck my finger in, as soon as I puled it out, the HOSP male flew out and I even touched him, BB parents chased him away. If I knew it before I could catch him. I checked the BB babies and they were fine but scared. I was sure that day the HOSP would not return, The next morning, 2 days later after the first HOSP attack, I found the wounded BB dead and the BB female tried to carry him out. I made her leave the house, took out and disposed the dead BB (smell was already bad). I decided to exploit the smartness of the HOSP against him. As I mentioned he leaned that the spooker was not dangerous, and fishing line was also useless against him. I opened the front wall and left it open to serve as a perch site. Instead I attached two-entry patch and stuck it with a scotch tape. I was certain that the HOSP would be too smart to ignore the sudden transformation of the BB house. Besides the house started looking more scary, like having two big eyes. The other thing I pursued with this transformation is to have emergency exit or entrance, since the HOSP would not be able to block the both holes at the same time. With the 2 holes there was more light inside and I could check the nestlings without opening the door. At first the BB parents were confused, but shortly they figured out their babies were still inside and doing well. As the result I have not seen the HOSP around anymore, the BB parents became more defensive and the three BB babies have fledged yesterday. Now I need an advice or opinion: a) I take the BB house down until I significantly reduce HOSP population. Actually the HOSP infestation was not too bad first, but then numerous young HOSPs fledged from the neighbors house and the area became heavily infested. That house is like the HOSP farm, and at the same time HOSPs would almost never seat on my roof. b) I keep the BB house with the transformed front wall, c) I restore the house to its original shape, where I can set up a trap as needed. Thanks. This post was edited by stal14 on Wed, Jul 2, 14 at 11:24
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erictammy
18 years ago
I have that happen constantly. There's one morning when I put in two Van Ert traps and as soon as I did the TRES started showing interest so I had to run way out and chase them away. I spent most of the day doing that. As soon as I would take the Van Ert trap off and give up, there was the HOSP poking his head out of the box again. I did do the suggestions that Cathy mentioned and it seemed to work. That particular day I trapped three HOSP but accidentally let them go. It was a horrible, no good, very bad day! But the next day I ended up catching 5.
Tammy
dodgerblue
Original Author
18 years ago
I did have the Van Ert set up one day last week, and the HOSP did go in the box and the trap did not trip, I was so mad. I had to modify the trap a bit so it would be more sensitive. We would have the occasional HOSP come around, and the Blues would run it off, but this one is stubborn, and I don't even see a female around with him. This is the first time in the 3 seasons I've been hosting the Blues that this has happened. I think we are getting more HOSP as there are more subdivisions popping up around us, and I think people are putting up boxes for birds, not knowing what we on this forum know. I can say I think the Sparrow Spooker trick does work.
bet_from_ct
18 years ago
I've had this happen a few times with the Van Ert. You can file the little thing that holds the trigger down to make it more sensitive. Also important to remove any nesting material that might get in the way (I like to leave some tho, and eggs, to lure them in.)

Sparrow spookers are incredibly effective. Problem is waiting for that first egg....

Tamsea, gotta use the mesh laundry bag that cinches on the bottom!

Here is a link that might be useful: spooker instructions

Smart Sparrow

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blue_happy

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Smart Sparrow

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blue_happy

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