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Identifying trapped bird

18 years ago

As mentioned in an earlier thread, I recently experienced my first inbox trap of a hosp. I used a modified version of one found on the sialis site; Metal plate slides down over entrance hole after bird enters box (my apologies, I don't remember the name of the trap.)

The trap worked great. The dilemma was "what kind of bird is in the trap? At first, I just "knew" it was either the male or female hosp. (I had placed their nest with one egg on top of the trigger for the trap). But then I became worried that maybe it wasn't a hosp. To say the least, it was quite an ordeal to get to the point of being able to actually see the bird, and it remaining a trapped bird. I have actually thought about adding some sort of material between the roof and the house so that the roof could be removed/lifted without releasing the bird. Maybe plexiglass.......worried about if that would make the interior of the box hotter? Some sort of screen/mesh....worrried about birds getting caught/injured? I just don't know! suggestions?

thanks!

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Comments (6)

griffin_MD
18 years ago
Hi, Mac. I have a similar trap and, unless you actually see the bird go in, there's really no way to be sure except to see the actual bird that gets trapped. I have a large mesh laundry bag that I purchased at WalMart (about $3) and I simply place it over the entire nestbox, close the opening tightly around the pole, and open the side of the box to allow the bird to fly out into the bag. It's fairly easy to id the bird once it's in the bag and, if it's a house sparrow, I grab it through the mesh and secure it while I remove the bag from over the nestbox. Once the bag is removed, I can then reclose the bag until I am able to deal with the house sparrow. Often times I will place him in my repeating trap as a decoy.
Even if I'm relatively sure that the bird inside the trap is a house sparrow, I always do a visual id. It's important, also, to monitor the traps and check them often so that you don't accidentally trap a native bird.
Kathy
renee_2006
18 years ago
When an inbox trap is set you must monitor it closely so no bird is trapped for too long. Never set a trap unless you can be home to monitor it.

Buy a mesh laundry bag. When a bird gets trapped in box slip bag over whole box, pull the cord tightly to make sure bag has box competely enclosed. Open box, bird will fly out. Gently grab bird and get a good look to make sure what kind of bird it is. If its not a hosp release it. If it is a hosp you could put it in your repeating ground trap to be used as a decoy.

Here is a link that might be useful: hosp ID'ing info
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bbcathy
18 years ago
Mac we pretty much all use the laundry bag and I have caught bluebirds in the box traps so monitoring is absolutely necessary. Can't stress that enough as those tough old hosp can survive a long time in a box and other birds can't. I trapped the same male Bluebird 3 times this spring and each time he let me know who he was by warbling loudly as soon as I opened the box. His gal was killed by a hosp in a box and he was on every house singing his heart out for a new one which finally showed up and they now have 4 babies. You just need to grab them quickly and gently so they don't injure themselves.
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bet_from_ct
18 years ago
Do NOT leave a trapped bird in the house - as Cathy said, they could DIE. Mesh bag is way to go.

Plexiglass on roof would cook box contents (it's been done)
bluebars
18 years ago
You can minimize the potential of trapping bluebirds in an inbox trap, by adding a 1.25 inch hole reducer. Only one time I had a bluebird been able to enter that; he must have really squeeeeeezed in there.
And yes, the mesh laundry bag is the way to go. Slip it over the entire box and gather taught with the string. Then you can open the box and determine the species. It is easy then to either release the bird unharmed, or get a hold.
Some people have used a plastic bag, but a HOSP can punch right through that.
BlueBars
mac60
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks all for your input. I am going to purchase a laundry bag later today.
As I have described myself as being very obsessed with all of this, when the trap was set, I couldn't get anything else done. I found myself going outside, peeking around the corner @ the box every 5 min. or so. Man, have I been getting my exercise lately. I could not stand the thought of a bird trapped for any length of time (not even that little hosp that I had been stalking for several weeks).
Thanks again!

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