Yesterday afternoon I discovered them making a nest in the hay loft. There is no way for me to get up to those rafters safely and my husband is away. I read on Sialis that some people have luck catching one in a small have-a-hart trap. So I set one up on the shelf in the stall that they hang out in. With any luck I will get one of them and then I can reset it. I am so frustrated by these destructive birds. There are only two right now and they seem to be running my life! I am deeply concerned about the mama Phoebe sitting on her clutch in the stall next door.

The Van Ert, for inside the nestbox, is to trap one at a time inside the nestbox. If you have HOSP harassing nesting bluebirds, you might want to try that in a mobile nestbox (see the link below). Ground traps are worth the investment if you have a lot of HOSP in the area. Or if you are handy, you could make one. Bet's web page provides links to several types you can buy or build. Also on Bet's web page below are other solutions you might want to try. Best of luck! BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm

I put up a Martin house a few years ago, and it is indeed a HOSP magnet. You can trap in the Martin box. I do it all the time. I don't know what kind of house you have, but there are multiple traps available for different units. I built a T-14, so could not use a trap that would just close off the entry, or the sparrows would escape when I opened the door. You can buy little wire traps which you insert into the compartment. When triggered, you can just remove the whole trap with the sparrow inside. I built one that fits my unit. I just used hardware cloth to make a box that would fit into the compartments. Then I put a plywood front on it (make the opening big enough for a sparrow, but too small for a Purple Martin)Then I used wire which holds up a small piece of metal that will fall over the hole when the sparrow step on the trigger. I got the idea from the Huber trap you can make for Bluebird boxes Huber trap directions I've never had a Martin (yet) but it works extremely well as a HOSP trap. If you wait until they start to nest, which doesn't take long at all, you can add some of their nesting material into the trap and they can't resist going in. Hope this helps.

I had a lady blue get trapped in a HOSP trap house too. They were already nesting with one egg in another house so I didn't think it was a problem. After I released her, I beleive she left my area. My male called and called for three days. I don't think your lady blue will go back there. I THINK another female showed up and did some building on their nest with one egg. That egg disappeared after a few days of her reworking the nest? Now she has four new eggs and is incubating. I like the hole reducing idea.. will get one for my trap house so this doesn't happen again.