I'm far to new at this to give you any advice, just sympathy. I worried about my spooker in our month of rain too! when there is no rain or sun, I don't think it helped much. Somebody on here or Sialis will know what to do.

Wow, I am so sorry about the eggs. So glad that momma blue wasn't harmed though. I have no clue about what she will do now as she was mid cyle, hopefully a more knowledgable bluebirder can chime in about that. You need to get rid of that HOSP asap, hopefully you can get the repeating trap from your friend. Good luck.

Donna

Thanks for the condolences. I feel so terrible, like I've let them down. Mr. Blue sat on my porch this morning "telling" me all his woes, and then he and the Missus took off and I haven't seen them since. Do they usually give up on a nest where eggs have been destroyed? Will they be back? I've been in a tizzy all day. And my TRES still haven't started laying, so I can't spook their house yet, but I'm afraid this HOSP will hurt them too. Agony.

Let the HOSP bond with the box and lay eggs. Put a 1 1/4" reducer on the inside of the box. When the Van Ert comes, the HOSP will already be used to the reducer.

It would be even better if you get HOSP eggs. You can set the trap in the a.m. and get momma HOSP and later in the evening to get poppa HOSP.

After dispatch, clean out the box with a 10% bleach solution and take off the reducer. It's possible the blues will be back to renest. When this happened to my TUTIs, they never nested in any of my nestboxes, but anything is possible.

Linda

I have a question. Mulchmamma, why the 1 1/4" reducer? Why not just install the Van Ert without the reducer? Just curious.

Linda C

Mullipuff,
Sorry about your loss.
I would go with Linda's advice.I would have the HOSP lay eggs and bond with nest box.No need for a whole reducer.Place the VanErt trap,get the HOSP Mama with the eggs.After the disposal,set the trap again and get the male.You're done.The HOSPs may not get into the repeating ground traps when they are nesting.
You are lucky that the HOSP did not kill the female in the nest box.That is what happened to me two years ago.
michelle

Hopefully you get your Van Ert soon, I have caught both female and male HOSP within minutes of each other even when they have just started nestbuilding. Usually Blues will not renest in a box that they have had a failure in, putting up an additional box may keep them in your yard but you wouldn't want to do that until you have eliminated the HOSP. I also do not think you need to add a hole reducer, a Blue can still get into a 1 1/4 hole, I have been told, so it wouldn't keep them from getting trapped. Just make sure once you put the trap in that you monitor it closely. Good luck.

Donna

Any box with an inbox trap really should have a reducer on it and there should be other boxes available with a 1 1/2" entry to entice the blues. Even my dees prefer the 1 1/2" entry. HOSPs aren't that particular due to their size and their desire to drive out the competition.

It just greatly reduces the chance of trapping a curious blue and tramatizing them to search for housing elsewhere.

Linda

I recently trapped a male HOSP with a Van Ert trap. I had seen him and his mate exploring my Peterson box over a period of a week or two, and there were signs of nest-building activity. I set the trap by spreading some grass to cover the trigger, and then I hung some long grass out of the hole of the box to simulate nest-building by a rival bird. I caught the male in less than 1 hour. Be careful if you try to remove him. They are very smart and tenacious; he found the only weakness (red spot) in the Van Ert and drilled through it and I couldn't get him into a milk carton or plastic bag. (Triple-bag if you try this method of removal or he'll peck through easily before you know it.) I finally just had to let him die in the box, and I never saw the female again. I think it's the males that bond with a box, not the females.

gatkinson, what do you mean a weakness in the van ert? The orange dot is just a sticker over the metal. I cover the entire box with a large heavyweight clear trashbag (we get them from our police dept and they are nice and thick) and secure tightly around the pole and then open the box whereever the box opens be it side, top or front and the HOSP will fly into the bag. I don't let too much loose stuff around the box, just enough for it to fly into and then I can easily grab the bird by grabbing the bag where the bird is and then remove the bag from the box while holding onto the bird/bag. I then prefer to the use a BB gun to quickly dispose of the HOSP.

You are correct, the male bonds with the box so if you get the female first you can usually still get the male but if you get the male first the female will leave.

Donna

I agree that a hole reducer is not necessary, especially since any change made to the box at this point will only make the house sparrows leery and more difficult to trap. In the event that I've trapped a native bird, I watch the boxes I have traps set in so I am able to release them immediately. Since they come right back, they haven't suffered any significant trauma.

Allow the house sparrows to bond with the nestbox until your trap arrives, then do as gatkinson suggests--cover the trip wire with grass and hang some out of the hole. This has never failed for me and I've usually trapped the male within half an hour. As for removal, I have a mesh laundry bag with a drawstring that fits over the entire nestbox. Once in place, I secure the drawstring, open the nestbox and allow the house sparrow to fly out into the mesh. I grab the bird through the bag (gloved hand only!) and hold him firmly until I can get the bag off the nestbox, then I simply close the drawstring and he is captive. The mesh is a good bet because it's sturdy, allows you to see the bird you've trapped, and is washable! I have used the same bag for 5+ years and it is still going strong! I got mine at WalMart for about $4.
Kathy

You Can use duct tape and tape a cosmetic mirror to the back of the nestbox if you get a wary bird. I cover the orange dot with a leaf or just remove it. I check them so frequently I don't need the dot. I had a wren poke a hole in the first egg of a second nest one year and the female abandoned the box. I finally removed the nest and moved the box a little ways (like 15 ft is all) and turned it so the hole faced in a different direction and she did come back and lay eggs in there a of couple weeks later.
Good Luck
Cathy

Donna, my Van Ert trap has an actual small hole in the metal, about the size of my little finger. The HOSP couldn't get through it, but he did find it and peck through the red spot covering it, which is a mesh tape of some sort. I also tried the garbage bag as you described, but he wouldn't budge out of the box, so I just closed it and left him there. Some are apparently smarter than others, and this one showed no fear at all, just wariness.

My Van Ert failed twice today!!! Grrrr!! I set it, but left the box as it was (with the Bluebird nest intact). HOSP went in and out TWICE and it didn't go. I think the nest cushioned the mechanism or something. So I carefully removed the nest and am trying again. I had really hoped this trap was as fool proof as everyone said. :(

You do have to use the trap in an empty nestbox. Nesting material will interfere with the trap.

Linda C

You could have some nesting material in the box to attract the HOSP but you have to make sure it doesn't interfere with the spring mechanism. You could easily check by sticking a bent coathanger through the hole.

All boxes don't have the 6 1/2" minimum hole to floor clearance that is recommended. You need to measure your boxes to make sure this isn't your case. If not, your nestlings are at risk from predator birds snatching them off the nest.

My Van Erts have been 100% effective.

Linda

I took the nest out and tried for 4 hours last evening. I officially have an Einstein HOSP, because he sat on the box and chirped up a storm but would not go in. I'll try again this afternoon. Wish me luck!

I put a van ert trap in a box with a full HOSP nest with two eggs and my trap still went off and I got both the female and the male out of that box. The only time I had a problem was with one top opening box (which is now replaced) where when you put the top on there is wood pieces that go down into the box and it prevent the trap from being able to spring all the way up and catch the bird. Once you set the trap make sure you can trip it before you leave it as is. Also you can set these traps extremely lightly just by moving the plate that swings up. Good luck.

Donna

I got him. Thanks everyone for the advice. Going to have the hubby move the box about 10 ft and turn it. Hopefully Mr and Mama will try again.

Glad you were able to get him. Hopefully moving the box and turning it will entice the Blues to renest. Good luck.

Donna

I appreciate your frustration, been through it. Hopefully with trapping and diligence you'll have success.

One thing i tried this year is the "pairing" concept. Put another box 10 or 20 feet from the first one. Supposedly the sparrows won't fight with the bluebirds so much. With two choices, you can put the Van Ert traps in the house the sparrows try.

I put up multiple boxes and every one i put pan head screws in so i can put in the trap. I use the clear bag so i don't lose the bird, then use it as bait in a cage trap to catch more sparrows.

Ive finally got bluebirds nesting, of all places it is 40 feet from my bedroom window. I hope they succeed!

i recommend you keep a spare box for situations like this. But now that you have your trap you shouldnt have to worry. If HOSP are thick in your area, i would invest in a repeating trap. i remember the first day i set it, i came home and had at least 15 in it. I was amazed needless to say, but the past 2 or 3 years i have dropped the population around my area which in turn keeps my EABL and TRES more safe. I only use 5 gilbertson boxes and a gilbertson trap to go with them. This does the job for me!

Hello,

Mullipuff's posting title caught my eye...some of you may remember me as the chicken who wouldn't kill HOSP. I got lots of written lashings from you all, and was convinced, but since the blues didn't nest here yet (and for a laundry list of assorted personal reasons), I was dragging my feet. Chickadees nested in one box, and HOSP nested in another box so I simply threw each egg away as they appeared (I think it was about 15 eggs---do they keep laying if the eggs disappear???) Then yesterday I saw a HOSP checking out the chickadee's house...too late. Dead babies.

Many, many apologies to those who told me to get my act together many weeks ago. (and to the poor chickadees...this makes me sick!!) I'm ready now and I desperately need help!

I'm fully on board. But I need concise advice on which trap to get, and which "disposal" technique is likely to be the easiest (cleanest, easiest to "distance" myself) for me, the weakest killer of all. I do NOT have extra $ to be buying more than one trap, and I do not have time to be fussing over details. (I'll spare you the details of my ridiculous life, but the blues are one of few things that keep me sane.) I need a flow chart of how to rid my yard of HOSP!!! The blues are now back, and I'm completely freaked out that I waited too long to sort this out.

THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE,

Ann

I'm willing to buy a trap, even an expensive one, as long as the consensus is that that's the best way to do the job. I do NOT have time to build anything right now....

Thanks,

Ann

Don't beat yourself up too much, usually, it takes dead fledglings or a dead adult to turn a "live and let live" mentality into one that actively controls HOSP.

Van Ert inbox trap, IMHO, the best. ($8.00 each plus shipping). You can take any ratty old box (just so long as there are no openings to allow escape), put a 1 1/4" on the inside ($1.99 or make your own) and have a dedicated trap box. Get a mesh laundry bag (Walmart) and you are set. As far as disposal, go to sialis.org to get the particulars. It isn't nice but it gets easier, especially when you consider how much safer you are making your birds. Dees are truly precious birds and to lose an entire clutch with adults should get you fired up enough to do what you have to do.

If you place the trap box within sight of a window, you can monitor with binoculars to release any non HOSP.

Linda

I put up two boxes, expecting the blues to choose the typical NABS approved style but they chose the Gilbertson PVC model and Mama is incubating five eggs in there. This is her third try at nesting this year. The first two were total failures, for several different reasons I won't go in to here.

I left the NABS box up and it was close enough to the Gilbertson that the bluebirds have been perching on it and defending it too. This morning early I saw a bird perched on the NABS box and without my glasses I thought it was Mama blue. I looked through my telephoto lens and saw it was actually a male HOSP, all puffed up and chirping. Then I saw him fly into the box and he stayed in there a few minutes.

I went down to install the VanErt in that box and my worst fears were realized. My male of 5 years (the one with the broken toe) was dead in the empty box. There was lots of feathers in the box and they were all blue. All of the damage done to him was above the neck. His eyes and even his bill were gone. I took pictures, mostly because I take pictures of everything, I guess. They are probably too graphic to post here.

I removed the corpse and installed the VanErt. In less than 5 minutes the HOSP returned and entered the box. I removed him using the clear bag method mentioned by Donna and Kathy. I disposed of him by swinging the bag against a post.

I don't think Mama knows what happened. She in on the nest but peeks out a lot as if looking for him.

It should be interesting to see how this plays out; whether she attracts a new mate or tries to raise these babies (assuming they hatch) by herself. I intend to help her all I can but I worry about her not having Papa outside the box and on guard for her.

Dave

Dave, you have the same situation I currently have. The NABS box was attacked by a male HOSP and dispatched the same way. The Gilbertson PVC box is what I want them to renest in but papa is still scoping out the wooden box.
Last year, a single male HOSP went directly to the NABS box and ignored the Blues and Dees in the PVC boxes.

Hopefully your mama bird will do fine and raise her brood on her own.

Dave, I am so sorry for the loss of your Daddy Blue! Also for the rough time with nestings this year. I knew you lost one early on, eggs that didn't hatch if I recall correctly but I didn't realize you lost one after that. I am praying for you and your momma Blue that she can incubate those eggs and raise them on her own. Let us know how things are going.

Donna

Wow, Dave, that's awful. And I thought losing eggs was bad. So sory for your loss.

Thanks, though to everyone for all their help and support. Mama and Mr. Blue have rebuilt in the third "spare" box and I'm just waiting for that first egg to appear. Thankfully no other HOSPs have shown their ugly beaks around here in the past week.

Cat Lady - I never thought I could kill a non-insect either until last week. And when I did it, it wasn't my favorite thing, but it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be. I looked him in the eye and told him I was sorry and made it quick. My Blues are so happy now and my TRES are safely incubating 6 eggs, so I feel no remorse. Good luck to you!

I would agree with the others, the most useful device is a Van ert. I also like a nice pellet gun. If its an on going problem get a DRST. I keep thinking I have them under control and they keep showing up in numbers. I have removed 62 year to date and I just started noticing more new fledglings showing up at the feeders. Its a never ending job once you start.

People in the purple martin community believe in "HOSP rage", which is caused by repeatedly destroying their nests. They think they become frustrated or blame it on other cavity nesters and seek revenge. I don't know if its true or not, but its another reason to destroy rather than just aggravate HOSPs.

Chris, I have a pellet gun and a DRST and several VanErt's. I agree the VanErt's are the most effective. The HOSPs my neighbor has nesting behind the shutters in the front of his house are very smart. They have developed a taste for meal worms and won't go for any of the seed bird foods or trash like bread or popcorn I put out as bait for the DRST. They also are alert for the pellet gun. But it seems this time of year, when they are looking for a place to nest and are determined to take over a box, they become careless. If I had seen him facing off with my adult male this morning I would have acted more quickly. I have often seen Papa fly into that box as if to say it was taken. I have no doubt that this morning the HOSP went right in after him.

Donna, your memory is accurate as to the first nesting. All five eggs were infertile. I hate to admit that I was the cause of the second failure. That nestbox is mounted on an a metal pole, that pushes into the ground like a shepherd's hook. I was cutting the grass two days before they were due to hatch and didn't see the bracing foot that extends about eight inches behind the pole. I hit it so hard it knocked out the two screws holding the box and it fell upside down, cracking all the eggs. I put them all back in the nest and she sat on them another week, then abandoned them.

For what it's worth, I also bent the crank shaft and the mower blade of a $375 Honda mower. I sent it to the shop and it runs, but the vibration is so severe I know it will shake itself apart. It's just a matter of time.

Mama is still on the nest. But she looks out a lot and flies up to the tree where she and Papa liked to sit. It indeed is very sad.

Dave

Guys I can't emphansize it enough. Lose the wooden boxes and move to Gilbertson PVC boxes. All 5 of my houses are gilbertson boxes. HOSP are resilliant to nest in them in the first place. And when I find one does try to start a nest, I get out the gilberston trap and he is done for. I have 1 wooden homemade house that I leave up as more of a "trap" box, and the HOSP are always drawn to this box. My EABL and TRES love the gilbertson box and have had great success the past few years. Like dave said, he wanted to the EABL to nest in his NABS box but the EABL picked the PVC. Maybe they know they are safer.

Aw Dave, so sorry about that second nesting too, I am sure you feel just awful about it but accidents do happen. Sure has been a rough year for you and your Blues. I am hoping your Momma Blue will be ok on her own. You are right too, those HOSP sure are wary of things. I keep seeing one male and a female coming to our feeder about once a day but so far haven't been ready with the BB gun anytime I have seen them. I think they have a nest elsewhere (car lot next door) but that doesn't mean any nestboxes in our yard are safe from them. I have the sparrow spooker up on our Blues nesting and the wren guard on our Dees nesting, TRES are on their own so I am still hoping I can eliminate these two I keep seeing. I am not overrun here with them thankfully but I have disposed of 11 males so far this year and my BB gun has done the most then the van erts. I often leave my windows (without screens) open just a crack so I can easily get the BB gun out and pointed at them which usually helps cause if they hear or see that window open they are gone.

Again, so sorry about your losses.

Donna

OK, I ordered a van Ert, and I'm ready to kill some HOSP!

Thanks for your words of support,

Ann